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Do I Need Archival Boxes For My Negs?

marcmarc

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Hi Everyone,
Last year I decided to start storing my negatives in polyester flip lock sleeves. I'm starting to run low and am about to order some more when I started thinking about archival boxes and if they are really needed. Right now my 135 and 120 negative sleeves are in letter envelopes and they are standing upright on a bookshelf. I'm beginning to get quite a volume going and I see a need to start storing them someplace else. Are archival boxes a must, or can I use any old plastic storage box from a office supply store or hardware store? Thanks for replies.
 
You can probably use whatever. However, I found the archival boxes really aren't that expensive. The sleeves are the piece that drive the cost up. So I just order a box now and again.
 
Any ole' plastic box will not be archival in the long run. Storing film in archival pages in binders is as far as I go with 90% of my negs, it would be best if they were in archival museum boxes, too, but I havent gotten that far.

Hope that you find a solution that works for you.
 
Posted wirelessly..

I had heard Barnbaum uses old metal ammo boxes. If true, is that a good option?
 
How much is an ammo box? You can get archival boxes for about $8, and they easily hold 50 rolls. I spend a couple tens of dollars a year on boxes for all the film I shoot.
 
Hi, marcmarc, I prefer paper (glassine) sleeves in file binders for neg and tranny storage. Polyester is good and useful if you want to contact-print negs without removing them from storage. These rip easily though.

Avoid P.V.C. as it will degrade over time and leave a sticky mess upon the film, especially in warm conditions. Some of my father's 1970's colour negs were stored in P.V.C. sleeves and are ruined whilst those stored in paper are in tippy-top condition.
 
Polyester fold locks are the way to go. BTW polyester does NOT rip. You cannot rip it. This is why large amounts of movie film are still done on acetate base because in the event of a jam destroying the camera's film delivery mechanism is less preferable to just tearing the film.

However, you still need archival boxes for the negs in general. Off-gassing and acidic situations are not good for negs, even if sleeved.
 
Just buy sleves, envelopes and archival boxes from Light Impressions.

This the the ONLY way. Plastic breaks down eventually. Just look at the fog on the inside of your windshield. That is outgqssing from the plastic interior. Paint can also be a problem, just not for amo.
 
Archival paper sleeves and archival cardboard boxes are best for long-term storage. They allow the contents to "breathe" a bit.
Avoid plain envelopes, they are not acid-free. There was a long thread arguing the merits of glassine envelopes here on APUG a couple of years back. Some folks love 'em, swear by them. Others hate them. Archivists warn against them. The glue can be a problem in high-humidity environments.

Second best would be polyester or polypropylene sleeves in polyester boxes or even hanging suspended in metal file cabinets. Avoid vinyl in any form.

Peter Gomena
 
The nice thing about the individual mylar sleeves is that I can handle individual strips right up to putting them in the enlarger/scanning without worrying about damaging them. They are clear so you can evaluate them on the light table. You can probably make adequate contact sheets of them too, but I barely every make contact sheets.
 
Archival sleeves from Calumet, common but acid free green Pendaflex hanging file folders and an ancient Steelcase filing cabinet work well for me.
 

I can second this, I recently pulled out some of my negative books from the early 70s and same thing, the sleeves are now part of the negative. I am really upset as these books contain most of my military photos.

I am going to take the least important shots and try to find a way to separate them.
 
Thanks again for replies. Yes, I decided to bite the bullet and go for the more expensive polyester sleeves. So far I've found Archival Methods to offer the best prices/shipping. I just ordered another batch of 120 and 135 sleeves. Boxes were one thing I figured I'd "get around" to someday. I usually buy most of my supples from Freestyle (I'm lucky to live in LA for this reason) but the boxes they were then stocking were not actually archival and even one of the associates told me they were not going to carry them anymore for this reason. I have to stop by this week so I'll check again. What material should I be looking for?
 
A hint about the archival methods polyester sleeves: I think B&H carries the 120 ones pretty cheap. Like at the same price as if you bought 10 packs of them from archival methods.
 
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