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Is the cardboard from cereal boxes acidic ?

If not, is there anything else I should worry about if I store my sheets of stamps between to pieces of cardboard (the sheet not being in contact with the printed side of the cardboard) ?

Any help is appreciated

Try this post! I just found out myself.

viewtopic.php?f=29&t=35996&p=2686926&hilit=sheets+store+sheets#p2686926

Thanks, I actually read this post right before I wrote mine. I'm looking for other people's opinion on the subject.

Cereal box boxboard is about the lowest grade of "cardboard" you can find. I would not store anything between sheets of that crap. I have seen it made and it is not pretty.

You ARE kidding, right? As Nigel Hawthorne would have said, "that's very courageous of you Prime Minister"

Norm

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Geelong, VFA Premiers 1878, 1879, 1800, 1882, 1883, 1884, 1886, AFL Premiers 1925, 1931, 1937, 1951, 1952, 1963, 2007, 2009, 2011, .

Agree.

I bet the OP launders Kleenex tissues to save a few bucks too. The mind boggles at the quite stupid things some folks do to "save money" that in turn ruins whatever they store.

Use Boga sheet folders... Most dealers have them and those who don't can probably order them in.

Cereal boxes are cheaper but will do no good to your stamps, meaning in the long run you will LOSE money.

The answer to your original question is... no.

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Greg - Looking for Goulburn Australia Cancels and Grangemouth Scotland Cancels and Covers
Member of the S.T.A.M.P Club for Slightly Twisted And Mad Philatelists - Motto: "Bring back the lick!"

Cardboard cereal boxes may or may not be acidic however it is not a good way to store stamps.

Use Boga sheet folders.

Surely the card will be worth more than sheets of mint stamps in a few years?

I think you should put it in a non acidic plastic like OPP stamp protective envelopes.. I put all my stamps (mint and used) in different sizes OPP's before putting them in an album or cardboard boxes..

Acid-free card stock is widely available, and is used in scrap-booking to store delicate or sensitive paper items. While it is not as heavy as card board, it is a good deal stiffer than regular paper, and used several sheets together would be as thick as cardboard. Not fancy, but it's safe, and inexpensive.

From a TV show I saw once "our family is on a tight budget, so we have to ration everything, including toilet paper. Everybody gets 5 sheets a day. If its not enough, use both sides."

I've received eBay purchases where someone with time on their hands cut up the boxes from cereal, biscuits, anything that's thin (ie. not corrugated).

Think what a cereal box is for--it acts as a container to ship, sell, and store at home for a short period a food product (which is wrapped in a plastic bag FWIW). Cereal boxes operate on the same principle as the metal boxes for container shipping--standardise the shape of the product you're shipping, and contain it in a box instead of lumpy bag.

The makers of cereal, facial tissues, et al expect the cardboard to last through the best before date of their food product, not long term, whereas how long would a stockbook maker survive if their books started falling apart after 6 months?

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Collecting Mongolia; Thailand; Indo-China; Mourning Covers; OHMS.
My online 'store': http://stampsfromaethelwulf.blogspot.com/

I appreciate your opinions, however, some of you did not need to be so mean about it, I am just a newbie who is inquiring.

So as I understand now, I will take them out of the carboard as soon as I get my hands on appropriate storage material and I will keep the cardboard in case I would like to ship them to someone someday. Most of you are suggesting Boga sheet folders.

These however appear to be made in Australia, so I would look for a similar product locally. OPP stamp protective envelopes seem to be a good deal, I’ll just have to do some research whether they are 100% safe.

Also, I have an oversized sheet which is 28cm wide and 34cm tall. Anyone has a suggestion for this one ?

Mint Sheet Files are the only sensible solution for storing mint sheets. I stock the ones shown below.



Folded glassine pages provide pockets for storing sheets of stamps.

Double (42 pkts) 9" x 11.5" (Orange illustration above) Paper cover $10.95

For oversized sheets (Canadian art stamps, for example) there are larger sheet files available. There are also hardcover files if you want to "invest" in the protection you give your stamps.

John A

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Armstrong'sStamps**http://www.armstrongsstamps.ca
Knowledge is Key.....Libraries work!

What are OPP stamp protective envelopes:-

Made of - Mylar???
Are they avaliable in different sizes?
Where does one buy them?

OPP stamp protective envelopes appear to be plastic sleeves. There are many sizes available ranging from 45x65 to 260X188, likely in millimeters. The manufacturer appears to be Chinese. They are available for purchase on eBay; I could not find them anywhere else. Here are the item numbers on eBay if you want to look them up:

150791906415
160776915505
150786292394
150785563047
150785563506

It is really difficult to get further information on them such as what material they are made of. They may be safe, but it is a good idea to make sure before storing stamps in those. I asked the eBay seller what they are made of exactly.

Seller on eBay just answered my question. OPP stamp protective envelopes are made of polypropylene.

The manufacturer appears to be Chinese.

I would be very weary of buying polypropylene from China, to store philatelic items in, the good polypropylene is manufactured in either the UK or Germany where I have purchased from and know it is made in both of these 2 countries.

Looked these up on eBay by searching "OPP protective envelope", and recognized them at a glance. These are sold by many philatelic/numismatic dealers here in HK. I haven't been able to find anyone selling glassine envelopes, they offer these instead. They're little plastic 'baggies', with a self-adhesive flap at the top. Must be stamp-safe, since its the stamp/banknote dealers offering them in the accesories corner of their shops.

_________________
Collecting Mongolia; Thailand; Indo-China; Mourning Covers; OHMS.
My online 'store': http://stampsfromaethelwulf.blogspot.com/

For what it's worth, David Smitham started a thread which might answer a number of questions;

http://www.stampboards.com/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=36337&p=2706522&hilit=mylar#p2706522

the main issue I have when storing philatelic material of *any* description is whether the worth of the item(s) justifies short-term, or serious, handling.

Short-term: e.g. Chinese stockbooks, stocksheets, a hagner in a plastic pocket, or even sandwiched between a couple of pieces of (any kind of) cardboard - these are fine for a couple of weeks.

As a member of the local stamp club, I have been called on to assist in a few evaluations of deceased estates; the one thing no-one has yet mentioned is -regardless of acidity - is rust.

Cardboard harbours it like no other medium that I know of (think old Chinese stockbooks for one) and I was moved to tears only last week when viewing one collection of home-made albums made of - you guessed it - cereal boxes.

Leaving aside the silverfish, and the bookworms, and the cigarette smoke-stains (and gawd-alone knows what else); in even half-way decent condition the collection would have been worth a couple of $000.

All mint full gum - obviously some VERY serious money spent on the items.....all full of rust and NOT WORTH A CRACKER This was one of the few times I couldn't wait to wash my hands - get home to shower and change - and pour myself a good stiff drink.

Bottom line. If you want to hold on to your items, the cost of storage should be regarded as proportionate to the cost of the items involved - would you keep a $00 bottle of wine with your 2 buck chucks?

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FORESTS OLD, PASTURES NEW
(An expert is one who knows more and more, about less and less)

That's because basic cardboard is one of the most underprocessed and cheapest wood pulp fibres anyone can get their hands on. Being underprocessed the fibres are large, the residue of everything else that grew with the tree is often present and in many cases is not fresh product but recycled from other bits and pieces.

One of the spores of a paper fungus is microscopic to the eyes and bascially is everywhere you will find wood and paper - its just a natural thing, almost symbiotic. You only need substandard storage for a while and bingo, rust.

Cardboard can contain residue of the processing plant, unsafe inks and preseving fumes, often mild pesticides (depending on what the box contained) etc.

PS - much of what looks like rust can easily be plain old aged acid burn.

I've got stamps that were stored and mounted quite nicely in the professional albums of their day - but they were really junk - and the pages have toned every stamp a light aged brown on the back and around the front edges.

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Greg - Looking for Goulburn Australia Cancels and Grangemouth Scotland Cancels and Covers
Member of the S.T.A.M.P Club for Slightly Twisted And Mad Philatelists - Motto: "Bring back the lick!"

After reading the comments on stamp or postal history storage on Stampboards over the years, I have switched to housing my collection in archival quality polyester. I use a company called Secol (http://www.secol.co.uk). I find them helpful and delivery is speedy. BUT... this is an expensive storage system.
I now don't see the point in storing postal history that costs in a cr*p storage system that doesn't.

I would be cautious about that. Some dealers may sell cheaper sleeves to customers, but may not actually use them themselves. If they do however use them to store their high value stamp sheets then okay, I guess we can assume they are safe.

Not too bad in price, 24 quid for a pack of 50 sheets; although they look pretty much like Hagners. Things like the "35mm film strip" pages look in the diagram like a 5-row stamp stocksheet. Then there's the 4-square sheet (plate blocks), the dividied-in-half-vertically (booklets).

The thing these have going for them is they're clear, so would be useful for postcards, or covers to display backstamp receivers etc. And the company carries the Royal Warrant, FWIW.

_________________
Collecting Mongolia; Thailand; Indo-China; Mourning Covers; OHMS.
My online 'store': http://stampsfromaethelwulf.blogspot.com/