Long term storage for G3's

[Princess-Sparkles]

On Tuesday this week I wasn't having a great day, I felt sick for most of and things were just not going right. To top the day off, when I got home I found that my pony shelf collapsed and my ponies had fallen on the lounge and floor. That was pretty much the last straw for me and closed the door and didn't go in the room until today to sort the poor things out.
 
All the ponies hair needs brushing again, unfortunately these girls have no where to really stay. These ponies are G1's and G4's the g3's have their own shelf to stay on. My mainy priority because I love these two generations the best is to have G4's and the G1's to not be stored the G3's are cluttering the room so I going to groom the and store them because I really like them but not as much as the others.
 
So what I was thinking is putting each pony in a zip lock bag and storing them in a large tub until I have room again, but I heard that ponies being in zip lock bags for a long time can cause mold. Is this true? IS this the best way to store them or is there a better way?

[Baby Sugarberry]

It depends on how long you mean by "long term", and what the prevalent conditions are.
Much like any other living thing, mold requires food, moisture, a comfortable environment, and oxygen to grow.  Unfortunately some of the components in vinyl are tasty to mold, so the best way of controlling it is by preventing access to sufficient water.  Warm temperatures will make it grow faster, cool temperatures slow it down.  Relative humidity over 60% can cause mold growth - if you stay at ~50% or below, you should be safe.  50% is considered the ideal magic number for mixed material collection conservation.


Plastic bags present two hazards - they create a micro-environment, and may contain unstable chemicals themselves, such as plasticizers. If your pony is mold free and being stored in an environment that is not friendly to mold already, encapsulating them in plastic shouldn't be too problematical for short term storage.  If the pony already has the beginning of mold, or is coming from a humid environment, putting them in plastic bags is a bad idea.


The greater unknown is what chemicals are in the plastic bag itself, and how they will interact with the item stored inside.  All plastics, bar none, are considered "unstable materials" from a conservationist's point of view.  Generally the more flexible the plastic, the more volatile plasticizers are in it, though there are exceptions such as mylar.  Every plastic is unique, which makes predicting the interactions extremely difficult.  Because of this, I do not recommend any long term, airtight storage for plastic collections.


Good reading on mold growth: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1056928/pdf/applmicro00290-0019.pdf


Plastics degradation: http://si-pddr.si.edu/dspace/bitstream/10088/11186/1/mci_WAAC2010-Tsang.pdf

[Princess-Sparkles]

It depends on how long you mean by "long term", and what the prevalent conditions are.
Much like any other living thing, mold requires food, moisture, a comfortable environment, and oxygen to grow.  Unfortunately some of the components in vinyl are tasty to mold, so the best way of controlling it is by preventing access to sufficient water.  Warm temperatures will make it grow faster, cool temperatures slow it down.  Relative humidity over 60% can cause mold growth - if you stay at ~50% or below, you should be safe.  50% is considered the ideal magic number for mixed material collection conservation.


Plastic bags present two hazards - they create a micro-environment, and may contain unstable chemicals themselves, such as plasticizers. If your pony is mold free and being stored in an environment that is not friendly to mold already, encapsulating them in plastic shouldn't be too problematical for short term storage.  If the pony already has the beginning of mold, or is coming from a humid environment, putting them in plastic bags is a bad idea.


The greater unknown is what chemicals are in the plastic bag itself, and how they will interact with the item stored inside.  All plastics, bar none, are considered "unstable materials" from a conservationist's point of view.  Generally the more flexible the plastic, the more volatile plasticizers are in it, though there are exceptions such as mylar.  Every plastic is unique, which makes predicting the interactions extremely difficult.  Because of this, I do not recommend any long term, airtight storage for plastic collections.


Good reading on mold growth: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1056928/pdf/applmicro00290-0019.pdf


Plastics degradation: http://si-pddr.si.edu/dspace/bitstream/10088/11186/1/mci_WAAC2010-Tsang.pdf

Wow! Some great info here thank you.
I honestly don't know how long they will be in there for. It won't be like years or anything just until I can get a bookshelf. I will be taking them out once in a while too.

[Jemofirongate]

As an alternative to plastic-based storage methods, perhaps you could wrap each pony in plain acid-free tissue paper and pack them in cardboard boxes - throwing in a few of those silica gel sachets to absorb any moisture may help too
If you are able to store them in a cool dark place, that will help too, but not somewhere that is damp!

Jem

[ponylady]

I think Jem has great advice there.
 
I also personally do not think ziplock bags are a good idea.  Like Baby Sugarberry mentioned there are hazards in doing so.  And I just don't like taking those risks with my girls.

[Princess-Sparkles]

As an alternative to plastic-based storage methods, perhaps you could wrap each pony in plain acid-free tissue paper and pack them in cardboard boxes - throwing in a few of those silica gel sachets to absorb any moisture may help too
If you are able to store them in a cool dark place, that will help too, but not somewhere that is damp!

Jem

I like this idea. Where would I be able to get those silica gel satches from?

[ponylady]

I know they have them on ebay for pretty cheap.
And here in the states they used to sell them at Michael's a craft store. I don't know that for sure now because it has been a long time since I have looked for them.  So maybe if you have a local craft store you could check there.
 
 

[tulagirl]

I would wrap mine in acid free tissue paper with their mane and tales outside the paper and then wrap them one more time to hide the mane and tail.  Allowing the mane and tail to be up against the body of the pony will cause dye transfer. I have had this problem with many G3'
s and it doesn't take long honestly. So wrap body first, then hair and store in bins.  Don't allow any of the pony hair to touch another pony so wrap well.  I wouldn't use a ziplock. Put accessories in a zip lock with one of those little drying agent silica things you get in purses. Don't over pack either as they will get squashed and dented in ways you can't imagine.    Ooops Jemofirongate, looks like you and I think alike. I didn't even read  your post until after I posted LOL.  Not trying to copy you...forgive me...

[Dragonflitter]

I'll let you know my personal experience with putting my own G3's in storage. ;

I have over 200 G3's and I love them, dearly, but I moved across country for a couple years so I packed up my things and my mom let me store furniture, etc. at her house while I was gone.

I put all my G3's piled together into one big cardboard box, and that went into a closet (I wanted to make sure they got to stay indoors, and not in a rented storage unit that was subject to whatever temperature it was outside)

I just recently got the box back from mom and unpacked it. Unfortunately a few of the ponies DID have some neon marks on them thanks to pink and yellow hair touching white pony bodies. >.< Arg makes me so upset!

So yeah, like people have been saying here, I think make sure you wrap up hair so it's not touching any light-colored ponies, and you should be okay.

[LadyStarCatcher]

My G3's had been in storage in a big rubbermaid tub for about two or three years, I had just carefully placed them in there and they were fine. The only problem I found when I pulled them out this last month to display was paint on a couple of them that had come from touching the playsets I had them with. (just 1 tub had this happen) My girls that had all just been ponies together were fine. Just don't store them with playsets! I will not be doing that again when I move next.

[Starbright]

I actually have had my entire collection in blue rubbermaid tubs for 4+ years with no issues. I've inspected for issues, discoloration, etc and found none.

[PonySeeker128]

Oddly enough, I had about 30 g3s from when I was 16, so 8 years ago, that I did nothing with to prepare for long storage, tossed them in a cardboard box and they sat in garage at my dads. I just got them less then a month ago and after not seeing them for that long I was very surprised to see that they were all perfect. I wouldn't do it again cause I don't want to risk anyhing happening if I were to store them. Its strange how sometimes they can be easily effected and other times nothing happens 

[partypony566]

As an alternative to plastic-based storage methods, perhaps you could wrap each pony in plain acid-free tissue paper and pack them in cardboard boxes - throwing in a few of those silica gel sachets to absorb any moisture may help too
If you are able to store them in a cool dark place, that will help too, but not somewhere that is damp!

Jem

Iagree with this ^^. I imagine being in sealed bags for a while might cause some mold problems :/

[Princess-Sparkles]

Thanks for the advice guys I'm going to wrap them in acid free tissue paper ^_~

[Baby Sugarberry]

If you have any poses that are particularly prone to leg distortion (can't think of any off hand for G3, but there may be some?) make sure you pad between the legs so they don't get crushed.  Sky Flier/Powder pose, and Quackers/Diamond Dreams pose in the G1 line are like this.  Bangles/Mimic's pose distort easily too.  If you have Happy Tails, don't put them on the bottom of a bunch of other ponies, since they're so squishy.