Humidity Question

[Moesalty]

I just purchased a large safe for my garage, but living in Miami, Florida, it is very humid in there. Is it safe to put, autographs, balls, etc...inside? I may just put some commons inside for a week or so and see how they do. The majority of my cards are in graded holders, which may or may not add more humidity??


Anyone experience anything similar? Thanks

[Bugsy]

Here is an excellent guide on conservation and preservation issues. They discuss humidity levels; usually 40-50% is suggested.

http://www.mnhs.org/about/publications/techtalk/TechTalkJuly1997.pdf

[Moesalty]

Thanks Bugsy!

[Mr. Zipper]

You need to be very careful with safes. There has been valid speculation fire retardant in some of them results in a very high humidity issue inside the safe. On the CGC Comics collectibles boards there have been examples of books kept inside of safes and within a relatively short period of time staples went from totally clean to brown and rusted through. The safes themselves were in a low humidity area, so the conclusion was something in the safe itself caused the corrosion.

[HexsHeroes]

.

. . . and so there are several humidity control devices out there, in conjunction with gun safe use.

Might be worth checking that avenue out.

[drc]

Extreme heat and humidity is not a good combination for collectibles. But if you periodically check on the items in the safe you should be able detect any problems before they become significant problems. Any significant damage caused by those conditions would happen over time, often a long time (sometimes years), so checking with some regularity is one of your best defenses.

[Moesalty]

It's actually a gun safe with two hours of direct fire protection, which I believe to be the highest on the market. I purchased it for my firearms, but went much larger, due to my cards.

Patriot safe company is running an incredible sale right now and I really couldn't be happier with the safe.