Hello, so I’ve collected for many years I’d say maybe started back up in 2013 or so, and I’ve never had a problem with my cards curling. I’ve lived in the same state my whole collecting life, most winters my heat was at 62, this year my roommate wanted to raise it to 66 which I thought would be fine. But i was looking though my collection few weeks back and realised my cards were beginning to curl. Which I swiftly looked up how to fix, I bought the little bags that are suppose to take the water from the air and put them everywhere I had cards, I didnt see a huge difference and some cards got worse so I got a 50 pint dehimidifier for my collection room which I run everyday for at least 8 hours. Is there anything else I should do, is there a way to reverse the damage that has been done? I love my pokemon cards but seeing some of them like this breaks my heart. Was this caused by my heat being at 66, bc I will freeze to save my cards from doing this! If you have any info that can help me out please do tell.
The dehumidifier should reverse the warping unless it’s so severe that the cards are damaged. Try to keep the humidity level at <50%, ideally at ~40%.
Okay will do! Thank you, for further info about the cards curling (bc a lot of stuff didnt curl) the cosmos promos go it by far the worst some may not make it which is sad bc a I love those cheap promos! And than unfortally it looks like some of my base binder, especially chansey! Though not as bad, bad enough that I notice right away. My 1st ed are in the back of the binder so not nearly that bad at that point.
Temperature and humidity are a bit tricky. Warmer air will hold more water, meaning that heating air drops its relative humidity:
“If saturated air is warmed, it can hold more water (relative humidity drops)”
sealevel.jpl.nasa.gov/ocean-observation/understanding-climate/air-and-water/
What can happen is if warm air with a high relative humidity is trapped inside and then allowed to cool, the relative humidity will spike high. What you ideally want to do is air out your house with cool fresh air on a day with low relative humidity. Then, when this air is later warmed inside the house the relative humidity will decrease.
Desiccant packets are really only effective in small closed spaces.
A dehumidifier is a decent option, but the room will always be ‘leaking’ so you’ll need to run it periodically.
Cards should at least be in a cupboard with a decent humidity sensor. Not the cheap rubbish meters from Amazon for $10. Something like this has been my solution: www.testo.com/en-US/testo-608-h1/p/0560-6081
I think the ideal storage is a good quality dry cabinet, which are typically used for camera equipment. Especially for a smaller collection.
It’s not just warping that collectors need to be concerned about – mould is the one that scares me!
Hope that helps.
Awesome! Okay that’s helps a lot I will look into getting one of those! I have my collection in many different parts of my house and obviously with my higher end items that are graded I have those else where. But my binders are in a wood cabinet that they have been in for 7 years at this point. If we have a warm day here than I’ll crack a window or 2 to help with the freshness of the air. Thank you again!
Dry cabinets have made humidity a complete non-issue for me. Highly suggest them!
www.ruggard.com/products/Gear-Protection/Cabinets-&-Dehumidifiers
No worries.
Just to clarify: you are after a cool (colder) day outside, but making sure the weather report says low relative humidity outside (30-40% or so). Then once that dry cool air is inside it will (presumably) heat up and further reduce in relative humidity.
Having a meter is key.
It’s funny bc I’m that guy whose car has an issue like my ac goes out or heating goes out or it’s making weird sounds and wont get it checked out for like 6 months but as soon as something happens to my precious pokemon cards I’m trying to find a fix, willing to spend how ever much I have to just so I can keep enjoying my collection. You guys are actually amazing, that’s the great thing about that hobby is I can come with a concern and people are so willing to take the time to tell me how to fix it. I will definitely be getting a dry cabinet!
Cards curling usually isn’t usually a big deal and can often be countered completely by storing the cards in a mostly-sealed container (i.e. a storage box with a lid or even just a card saver or top loader should do the trick).
If you’re worried about expensive items being damaged by humidity I’d recommend getting a dry cabinet - I use mine for delicate non-TCG items like stickers and pamphlets and mine is set to a steady 50%.
The humidity in my house ranges from 35 to 75 throughout the year and as mentioned above the best thing you can do is let some fresh air into your house when the indoor humidity is more extreme than the outdoor humidity.
the cards arent graded right? I imagine that a slab would have no issues
Yea non of my graded cards at my house were affected
Just for curiosity sake, does a double sleeved card protect better against humidity? I have a sideloading binder that I keep double sleeved cards in. I’m curious…
Also, what if you keep cards in a zipfolio? How about a zipfolio with a decadent pack inside?
some of the sleeves tend to have some static to them and condensation clings to them a bit easier from what I have seen
I hear this line more often, just a friendly reminder that the cases used by grading companies don’t prevent damage from moisture.
www.elitefourum.com/t/so-desiccant-packs-are-not-enough-to-stop-moisture-damage/23549/1
most of mine are bgs which have the sealed sleeve inside. PSA and cgc dont have sleeves so may be harder. I also have a large open top fish tank in my room so it has more moisture than most but the bgs cases have been fine