long term crib storage question

I wouldn't

Bill Houghton, avoiding work in Sebastopol, CA


>My experience with packing things in plastic in places where the humidity gets high is that the plastic collects moisture more easily than it releases it (can't explain the physics there, just my observation).

How's his attic? Outside the house heating/cooling "envelope?" If so, he'll have swings from mighty cold in winter to hot and humid in summer. Is it vented? If not, it may get hot enough to cook the crib pretty impressively, something that could be as damaging as humidity. If he's lived in the house for a while, he should have some idea of how things fare in that attic.

Maybe a blanket?

Re: long term crib storage question

Pam Niedermayer - Austin, TX


>For ten or twenty years it's probably worth it to dissemble the crib and pack the parts in paper and box along with assembly instructions, put that box in the attic. Maybe a few (de)humiditfier packets should be packed in the box.

Pam

Re: long term crib storage question

Warren in Lancaster, PA


>My nephew was born in 1976 and his crib has been passed around the family. It has been in at least four attics. The crib I used as a child spent 40 yearts in an unheated attic before being given away. Neither one had any special protection or suffered deterioration.

I suppose something wrapped in plastic could have condensation on the inside of the plastic when the temperature falls. In my attic the daily cycle of hot and cold is rather extreme, perhaps 40 degrees or more. I do have a spinning wheel in my attic that I put in a plastic bag about 15 years ago without any troubles, but I would suggest covering with an old sheet instead.

Re: long term crib storage question

Bob R


>Sorry for the long winded response. I work in the pharmaceutical industry in the product stability area so I have some experience with packaging materials (at least as they apply to pharmaceuticals). Contrary to what many people think, plastic is not impermeable to moisture. On the contrary, depending upon the type of plastic, it can be quite permeable.

For our products, we package in a few different types of plastic (bottles and blister cards). Plastic films like PVC and PVDC (poly-vinyl chloride and poly vinyl di-chloride) are quite moisture permeable, hence we do not use these packages for our markets where there is high humidity (e.g. southeast Asia, South America). HDPE (high density poly ethylene) is slightly more moisture protective (but not impermeable) and is the common material used in medicine bottles in the US. Of course moisture permeability is directly related to film thickness (which is why PVC can be used in plumbing pipes).

For products which will go to high humidity markets, we package in blister cards made of aluminum film (like foil). This film is impermeable to moisture.

OK, so why does this matter? Well, if your friend were to pack the crib in a plastic film, moisture is guranteed to get under the film in a hot humid summer attic, just more slowly than it would if it were not covered. Problem is, that moisture will get out from under the film more slowly as well, therefore when the temperature drops (on a cool night or as the fall approaches) the moisture is guaranteed to condense. So unless your friend can wrap that crib in aluminum foil and keep the outside air out, that crib is guaranteed to be exposed to the humidity (and it will probably get wet if it's under plastic - bad!).

I would agree with Pam. Disassemble, pack in a material that will protect from dust but allow air to circulate around the piece (blankets, cardboard box), and do not put it directly on the floor but block it up on some 2x4s to allow air to move around it. It will still be exposed to the humidity but it will be allowed to equilibrate with the surrounding air. At least it will not get wet (unless the attic roof leaks bt that's another problem:). No need for desiccant as the desiccant will saturate in a few days (if not hours) on a hot humid summer day anyway and once saturated, it's useless.

And FYI, for those of you who store medications in a bathroom medicine cabinet, that's a no-no as well. Steam = 100% humidity = bad for medications.

Re: long term crib storage question

Patrick Gibbons, Houston, TX


>I had a girlfriend once whose father stored some of her sister's items by sheet rocking them in the garage (against a wall). It was like being in their own hermetically sealed mayonaise jar on the front porch of Funk and Wagnels.

I'm always amazed at the depth of knowledge here

V Parisian


>Thanks for the informative and important post.

When we moved into our new house a few years back the former owner left a crib and other things in the attic of the garage. He mentioned that his son would come by some day to pick these things up. About a year later his son did come by and we loaded up his truck with these family treasures(?). All was in decent shape, and very servicable. He mentioned that they were stored in the attic when the house was built. So I'm guessing in excess of 15 years.

Victor - in Houston where we cut the humidity with a knife.

Re: long term crib storage question

Pam Niedermayer - Austin, TX


>It was like being in their own hermetically sealed mayonaise jar on the front porch of Funk and Wagnels.

OK, call me dense, but I don't understand this, Patrick. Was this good or bad vis a vis preserving the items?

Thanks,

Pam

From the Johnny Carson skit ...

V Parisian


>Carnac the Magnificent. The envelope with the question was stored in a hermetically sealed mayonaise jar under the Funk and Wagnel porch (if I recall correctly)

Re: long term crib storage question

Steve Mackay


>I know I go on about my ARMY but . . .

I tried to "preserve" or mothball about everything at one time or another. Anything packed by the "manufacturer" in plastic is "dry". Its been de-himidified, vacumed packed. No humidity inside. Anything packed by the end-user (without the proper equipment) is going to have moisture in it. The moisture is going to sit, sealed, and do the nasty things it does. Any ciculation that the equipment gets, at least, moves the air thats in contact with it.Your odds are better just protecting from dust and crud and let things breath.

Re: From the Johnny Carson skit ...

Pam Niedermayer - Austin, TX


>Yeah, I managed to unfold some recesses after I wrote the message; but was the storage method good or bad? That is, did the items stored survive well?

Pam

Re: I'm always amazed at the depth of knowledge he

thomd


>I don't like to store furniture in an attic because it's so hot. But how hot or whether at the margin it freezes or rains up there depends on the local conditions and the kind of HVAC and insulation one has. Realistically a lot of the houses in NA aren't really fit for solid wood furniture storage, let alone the attics. I have a lot of wood stored up there, but it isn't in a crossgrain format yet.

Re: From the Johnny Carson skit ...

Patrick Gibbons, Houston, TX


>I thought it was an ingenious solution. If I remember correctly, the items stayed in this storage for a few years (don't know how many exactly) and seemed to have done very well. I do not know what they did to the items inside the tomb, that is did they wrap in paper, etc. I have this vague memory that nothing was done and that they were sheetrocked only. I believe the items stayed sheetrocked longer than me and the girl dated. For further reference I would suggest rereading Telltale Heart and The Cask of Amontillado. I believe the benefits of this storage system have been greatly overlooked due to the negative associations many have with the motivations of previous users. Geraldo didn't make the situation any better with his live broadcast of the search for Al Capone's gold. I intend on using this very same method the next time my mother in law visits.

Re: From the Johnny Carson skit ...

Pam Niedermayer - Austin, TX


>Ah, so our consensus is that it should be shoved under the floor boards, walled up in the cellar behind a rock wall, or the modern equivalent of sheet rocked into the wall. Of course, you'd have to leave bread crumbs for future inhabitants so it wouldn't be accidentally lost forever.

Pam