Hi listers! We will be taking down two displays of ceramics (mostly china from the 19th and 1st half of the 20th centuries) and storing them in boxes in an off-site storage room where they may remain for half a dozen (or more) years.

We are a very frugal New England historical society with many needs for archival supplies – especially to re-house paper and textile artifacts, which seem more at risk – so don’t want to spend more than necessary here. Should we purchase padding/separators such as a roll of polyethylene foam (Gaylord, for instance, sells a 12” wide, 1/8” thick, 550’-long roll of polyethylene foam for $65) – or would the items still be safely protected by re-using bubble wrap and/or  the plastic air pouches used for packing, of which we have a ready supply? And though I imagine flatter boxes would be better, we have a lot of acid-free square “banker’s boxes with lids that seem like they would do the trick.

Any frugal conservators out there who can advise on this? Thank you!

--Kathie

Kathie Gow

Oral History Producer

http://www.wordspicturesstories.com

Curator, Hatfield Historical Museum

http://hatfieldhistory.weebly.com