The humidity question - what's your correct level?

General
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What’s the correct humidity level? I use a dry box for my binder and graded cards - similar to the one below.

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How I store my graded cards
I double team bag my slabs and put them inside an acrylic box. Then I place the acrylic box inside the dry box. My slabs aren’t expensive, but I want them to be in excellent condition if I gift some away or decide to sell them in the future.

My concern
What is the appropriate humidity setting for my cards? I’ve researched it online, and everyone has a different answer. Some say 30-40%, and others say to keep it at 50% and below (50% seems a little high). What is the precise humidity level I should set for my dry box? I know everyone will have different answers depending on their climate.

Aren’t you doing too much?
You might think putting slabs inside two team bags and then an acrylic box is psychotic, but it makes it easier for me to place the same acrylic container inside a vault when I travel overseas. That is because vaults are useless against humidity and dry boxes are useless against burglars.

What others say
Polygon says 45-55%

“Basic guidelines advise storing between 68 and 72 degrees Fahrenheit as well as at a humidity level of 45-55%. The first step to any of this delicate balancing is in monitoring, and that’s where Polygon’s TCS services become so useful. Remote monitoring offers a portrait of the storage space that shapes the environmental variables. For the most delicate of materials, such as first edition baseball cards , Polygon’s DOC services vacuum-freeze dry environments, achieving the ultimate dry setting for long-term preservation. There are subtle differences between storing organic and inorganic materials as well.”

Leeasher says 30-40%

How To Store Playing Cards.

“Playing Cards prefer a 68 F (20 C) and a relative humidity range of 30%-40%. They can be stored in temperatures as low as 30-40 F (-1 through 4 C), as long as the humidity stays constant between 30-40%. Again, dehumidifiers can reduce the moisture in a room or storage area and are inexpensive.”

Cardcapsule says 45-55%

Card Capsule | Keep Sports Cards in Pristine Condition).

“A dehumidifier will remove moisture from the air and help protect your cards (between 45% and 55% humidity is considered ideal).”

An efour thread has someone saying 40-50%

“…just to chime in on your direct question. From what I read, anything lower then around 50% RH is idea for cards. Anything lower then 35-40% starts to get “dry” that can lead to other issues, cracking, brittleness etc (that is often seen in old paper documents, etc). Case in point, anywhere between 40-50/55% would be my go-to.”

Reddit post has someone saying – “The accepted standard for indoor humidity is 30-50%.”

https://www.reddit.com/r/magicTCG/comments/krusui/experiments_with_humidity_and_foil_card_curling/

“The accepted standard for indoor humidity is 30-50%. As these experiments show, foil cards made in the US are still dramatically curled at 45% humidity. I think customers should reasonably expect playable cards at normal indoor humidities.”

So what’s the correct answer? I am confused.

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I always use @qwachansey as the reference to humidity questions since he also uses dry cabinets. He explained his settings via this post.

Also surprised you dint make this topic sooner, since moisture really does disgust you. :smirk:

Cheers!

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Nice! Thank you. I have bookmarked his thread. 45% humidity!

Yeah my username checks out :rofl: I wanted to post this topic earlier but the current threads are too addictive.

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I try to aim for 45-60% if I can. That’s also what I typically keep my instruments (wood) at as well. It seems to be a happy medium in this range for most paper/wood materials.

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The correct answer is “constant”, which is what the cabinet does for you by default. Fast fluctuations in temperature/humidity is where you’ll have issues. Just pick your favorite number between 30 and 60% and you should be good to go

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not sure if hes still here, but if silversnorlax is still on this board hes rly indepth with that stuff

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I use 34% for my dry cabinet. Any higher and my cards become a wet sponge and any lower they instantaneously crumble like a Nature’s Valley granola bar

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Ok I might give 34% a go.

Don’t want it to turn into this:

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I use 45%.

Although I’ve had cards laying around for years outside my dry cabinet that have never had problems so I wonder how essential constant humidity really is. Still better to be safe for valueable items.

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Yep. The greatest comic collections were found with zero humidity or temperature control, with the books usually stacked on top of each other in closets and attics. I think we all overthink humidity being such an issue. As @pfm said, if you are willing to already own a dry cabinet you are almost certainly wayyyyy ahead of the average collector

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Perhaps, but what were the conditions in the rooms of those comic collections? Over our lifetimes humidity, among other things, can definitely have great affects on these cards and I’d be quite curious to know the exact conditions of those rooms/buildings where those comic books were found in great condition.

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Cards in my childhood bedroom (four seasons, very cold and dry in the Winter, very humid and hot in the Sumer) survived many years of exposure to extreme humidity, heat, and cold. While humidity can definitely affect cards (curling holo is a great example), I think we overestimate the damage in our anxious brains.

That said, I do have some cards that were actually rained on when I left my bedroom window open as a kid… now that kind of damage was heartbreaking.

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Maybe, but given the value and importance of cards in pristine condition, I don’t want to leave the condition of my collection over the course of the next 50 years up to just “it probably doesnt matter”.

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Highly doubtful these closets and attics and houses had perfect humidity all year round lol. These were books from the 1940s, unslabbed. I have no problem with people paying up to protect their collections, and I do as well, but I think there are definitely bigger concerns like UV etc

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I keep mine around 15-20% with a reusable silca packet. I worked with @silversnorlax204 on my solution and they said a few years ago that the preferred range is 15%-35%. However, if I remember correctly, the most important thing is less about the specific number and more keeping it constant +/- 7% variance.

Edit: This is achieved with a pelican case (mainly since water proof was my main concern) and not a dry cabinet. So it may not be super applicable to this discussion so sorry. I did just check my collection at it is currently at 17% so slightly lower but this isnt a dry cabinet. I havent noticed too many issues in the 3 years I have used this solution but happy to discuss. It has not changed since the last discussion and actually is the exact same % since the last post I did about this at 17% 6 months ago when I had a very very brief discussion on discord with @pfm where we discussed the pros and cons of pelican and how this percent is good as long as it is constant and doesn’t fluctuate.

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Forgive my ignorance, but will storing curved foils in a dry cabinet un-bend them or is it a preventive measure?

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I am unaware if the dry-cabinet removes moisture which has already seeped in the card since I understand it maintains humidity it at a stable rate.

There are these moisture absorption packs which take away moisture slowly. Usually meant for foods, wooden items etc. These might help remove the moisture out of the cards, although I am not sure of the efficacy of these packs, but they can be introduced in the cabinets and maybe they work?

There are also people who suggest keeping it near very gradual heat to be able to evaporate it (not sure if this damages the card itself). Lastly it is to keep under pressure / weight. Prevention is better than cure I guess for these cases.

Cheers!

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There are YouTube videos of people uncurling MTG, Yu-Gi-Oh, Flash and Blood, etc. foils using silica gel packets and similar approaches. It should work for Pokemon too, though vintage holos are noticeably thicker than foils from other card games and may require more time.

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Does a sealed acrylic box also protect the double team bagged cards from humidity… in case the dry box decides to betray me?

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Hey guys what humidity level is the best to store my huge FA waifu card collection? I don’t want them to get physically wet

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