Dry Cabinet For Books


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Zhiliang

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Dec 20, 2006
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Hey,

Looking for something that can store books and be able to stop those yellow dots from appearing on them, any ideas besides buying many dry cabis?

Thanks
 

It is best to stack books in a horizontal position, rather than letting them stand vertically in a row. Books that are stacked flatly on top of another have a lesser chance of letting the humid air getting into contact with it's pages. Fungus tends to grow on the surfaces of these pages if they are in contact with humidity.

If possible, place a hard-cover book on the top of all the soft-cover books as the soft-cover books' cover tend to curl up, exposing the pages to the air.
 

But it still doesn't prevent the dots from appearing on the page edges right?

I think the only way to prevent this is to seal all your books in plastic bags.
 

Hey,

Looking for something that can store books and be able to stop those yellow dots from appearing on them, any ideas besides buying many dry cabis?

Thanks

I assume that you have valuable collectable books that ar worth preserving. Else, the best solution would be to throw out those spotted books and buy new ones from time to time... and don't be so fussy because we live in the tropics.

Assuming your books are worth preserving, the best solution would be to keep your valuable books in one of those dry cabinets used for camera equipment. But that would only control humidity, and not temperature. Make sure it's not too dry as well, or the pages will become brittle with time.

If you have a lot of books, you can put them in a well sealed room and use a dehumidifier.

For truly valuble books/artwork, you need to control the temperature at around 20+ degrees as well. An aircon room is the best solution for these.

So... it really depends on how valuble your books/artwork are... and how many of those you have.
 

You can learn from those comic book collectors on how they prevent the lousy newsprint paper from yellowing.
Temp and humidity control is just one thing. The paper is also affected by sunlight and acid.
The plastic bag used is also special -- made of mylar.
 

You can learn from those comic book collectors on how they prevent the lousy newsprint paper from yellowing.
Temp and humidity control is just one thing. The paper is also affected by sunlight and acid.
The plastic bag used is also special -- made of mylar.

Yes. I collect some artwork. I frame them carefully in acid free material. Usually, I use 100% cotton water colour paper as a backing layer, and seal the back with corrugated plastic (as opposed to acidic plywood or masonite boards which are commonly used). For the front, I would use 99% UV filtering acrylic. I also paint over a layer of clear acrylic to the inside of the wooden frames to prevent the acid from migrating to the artwork. But that's a bit extreme for normal artwork/books. You have to judge the value of the material you wish to conserve and apply the appropriate conservation technic.

UV light (and to a certain extent visible light) affects colour pigment. If you have direct sunlight shining on your books, the colour of the spines will fade. The same goes for photos, furniture, etc. If you want the colour to last, keep them away from direct sunlight. That is why museums are a bit dark, and only UV filtered light sources are used.

Mylar is good. It is used for valuable stamps and documents.
 

But it still doesn't prevent the dots from appearing on the page edges right?

I think the only way to prevent this is to seal all your books in plastic bags.

Certainly, books that are made of low quality paper(with some amount of acidity) will have dots on the edges, but you can still get clean & spotless pages on the inside even after many years.

All my books are kept stacking horizontally, after many years, the pages are still in top condition. That is the best you can get if you do not have a dry cabinet or a dehumidifier. :D
 

Wow, thanks for all the advices, hey i got this wireless mini dehumidifier that comes together as a free gift when i buy my D80 from the IT fair. Think the brand is OIeeCan that be used? Is it good enough?

Actually mine are not really precious books but i have a series of encyclopedias that are very nice in design and colour and i am afraid down the years, i heart pain see got yellow spots.

Does anyone know how much does a dehumidifier cost?
 

I out them in ziplock. Works so far! Cheap and good!
 

Wow, thanks for all the advices, hey i got this wireless mini dehumidifier that comes together as a free gift when i buy my D80 from the IT fair. Think the brand is OIeeCan that be used? Is it good enough?

Actually mine are not really precious books but i have a series of encyclopedias that are very nice in design and colour and i am afraid down the years, i heart pain see got yellow spots.

Does anyone know how much does a dehumidifier cost?


If I were you, I would let them yellow. Encyclopedias are common publications that are not very valuable.

However, if you really want to preserve them, I would suggest that you seal them in ziploc bags as suggested and put some silica gel in it. Then just pack them away in boxes and put them in the store.

Your little free dehumidifier may help if you put it in an enclosed cabinet.
 

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