Conservation

We keep telling you to store your stamps and albums in a cool dry place. You may not care what happens to your stamps after you kick the bucket but you will regret not taking good care of your toys if you ever have to sell your stamps in your lifetime. It doesn't take a huge effort to make sure your stamps are properly cared for.

First of all, don't go all miserly and use any kind of paper or paper product to mount or store your stamps. Those beautiful Chinese mini stockbooks from souvenir collections are nice until you find that the pocket glue turns liquid and destroys your stamps. "Magic" photo albums are everywhere but are not for stamps since the wax on the pages will soak into stamps. Stamps are generally still made from wood pulp and are more fragile than you think. In fact, if not properly cared for, they contain the seeds of their own destruction if oxidation starts up and creates acidity that accelerates their self-destruction.

So, limit exposure to air, more specifically, oxygen. This does not mean you have to put a stamp in your album in three seconds and slam the album shut. It does mean you don't put stamps in frames on the wall but on stockpages or albums that remain closed most of the time. It does mean that you sleeve covers or put them in an album. You won't notice the difference for years, but there will be a difference, sometimes truly major. And that means that you should use albums and storage schemes made by the familiar stamp supply brands.

Further, we need to prevent exposure to full sun, many times times more powerful than room light.

Storage in a sealed container or plastic bag with an oxygen scavenger and a dessicant (like silica gel) is recommended, with those items often available in the little packets used in food and other products. They are also available for purchase, though sometimes in large packets/packages, overkill for stamp collections. Removing those albums from that storage in very humid conditions will cause your stamps to curl because of the change in "climate".

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