I'm interested in the way you store your magazines and what kind of plastic bags you use. If you have a good resource for backing boards and plastic bags, please let me know.

I used to store the magazines that are most important to me in plastic bags, but never thought about using those that are free of acid and plasticizer.
That's why I would love to know how other collectors handle this.

Hi Aline:

I'll tell you what I know. There are three main suppliers over here:
1) BCW (I think this is a US based company that make a lot of supplies for records, magazines, and baseball cards--you can probably find them on Ebay over there too)

2) Bags Unlimited (bagsunlimited.com)

3) Fun-Yet Polybags (these are imported from China I believe)

Any of them will work fine. They vary based on the following criteria:
1) The THICKNESS of the bag (measured in microns)

2) The CLARITY of the bag (how easy it is to see through it, generally, the clearer, the better)

3) The flap, and if it is resealable or not (some come with a flap that is not resealable that you have to TAPE shut, which is fine unless you plan on having to take out the mag and put it back in several times).

4) The size. Generally you will need the "standard" size magazine bag (often called the "Playboy" size, which is roughly 8 3/4"x11"), but sometimes you will need different sizes for larger mags like "Hello", for example.

Overall, I think BCW is the best choice. The reason is thus...they are resealable, but are "safer" to use. In other words, the seal on the Fun-Yet is great, but sometimes you can get the magazine "stuck" on the seal when you open and shut the flap, because the seal area is so large and "sticky".

I get boards from the same place as I get the bags over here. Not sure where you would get them since airmail shipping to you being in Denmark (LOL), would be too much for you, especially for the boards which are heavy. But I would try the normal places like your ebay.de or a supplier that deals with magazines and records over in Europe.

For boards, they come bundled by the hundred, and yes, make sure they are acid free. When you buy the boards from a supplier, they should always be acid free. Important thing to remember for boards is that the SHINY side goes toward the magazine.

Ron

Hi,

I personally store them in large ring plastic files where I insert transparent plastic bags.

The most important thing is to keep the storage a little open to avoid humidity and little bacteria that can ruin the paper.
If you have some silica bags (the ones you usually find when you buy new hi-fi equipment or PC accessories) place them in the box or book shelf where you keep your mags and humidity will be kept away.
I had a problem some years ago: some little insects proliferated and ate part of my mags (posters, leaflets and everything else in paper) , making them full of little holes. There are some insect repellents you can find at your hardware store or just buy some special perfumed dry flowers at your herbal's store ( I think lavander, neroli etc..) and the problem should be solved.

Laura, OMG, this sounds like an absolute nightmare to have holes in your magazines Thank you for the tip with the silica bags.









And Ron - thanks a lot for the information and the links you provided. I will look at them in detail just to know about what kind of bags and which price categories exist. But you're right, shipping boards from the US would be an expensive plan :wink

Hallo!
Thank-you very much for your suggestions, very precious for me, because during these days I'm putting some order in my collection.
I bought plastic bags and a little sigiller machine, very useful especially for the mags.