Long Term Freezer Storage of Paper and Film: Seal A Meal?

Anyone here use the vacuum sealer food processing products to store their film and paper in the freezer for long term?

Just asking as I would be concerned the vacuum might crush cardboard boxes if you are not careful.

Anyone with practical experience here?

Alternative suggestions?

Kino said:

Anyone here use the vacuum sealer food processing products to store their film and paper in the freezer for long term?

Just asking as I would be concerned the vacuum might crush cardboard boxes if you are not careful.

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Yes. You use the vacuum to such out excess air. You don't attempt to get it all out. When the plastic has formed around the box, that's good enough. Paper and sheet film (newer sheet film, that is) is not truly sealed inside the box, so the extra seal outside is, in my opinion, necessary. That said, a ziploc bag will work, also.

Don_ih said:

Yes. You use the vacuum to such out excess air. You don't attempt to get it all out. When the plastic has formed around the box, that's good enough. Paper and sheet film (newer sheet film, that is) is not truly sealed inside the box, so the extra seal outside is, in my opinion, necessary. That said, a ziploc bag will work, also.

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Thanks, Don. I use ziplock bags, but am noticing that shuffling around the items tends to tear small holes in the bags, negating their protection.

Thought this might be a better solution and it should be obvious if a vacuum seal is lost on a package.

It is really obvious when the seal is lost. There are a couple of different kinds of plastic bags for vacuum sealing. The best is probably the thicker ones marketed for sous vide. That's what I use. I have some of the thin stuff but I find it never completely seals. The thicker ones, you cut and the heat seals the bag. The thinner one is cut by the sealing operation. The thick stuff is definitely tougher than ziploc bags. But even a ziploc bag that's not perfectly sealed will be better than out in the open, since it will massively restrict air flow around the box.

No need for fancy equipment, I use ZiplockTM bags if the factory seal has been broken.

I have one of those freeze-dry kitchen vac bag system. Should work fine as long as the poly bag is completely sealed under low humidity conditions. The amount of vacuum draw isn't all that much.

True long-term sealing involves a multi-ply sheet material with a heat-sealable inner ply, and an impervious aluminum outer ply. I once had a big vacuum dessication chamber for sake of encapsulating big prints (up to 4 ft wide) this way. It's the Library of Congress method
(if we still have either a Congress or its Library).

Zip loc bags easily lose their seal after awhile. For unopened film boxes, I prefer to simply use two ordinary polyethylene bags twisted and knotted at one end, one inside the other, and then into the freezer. I don't re-freeze opened film boxes unless the inner foil or plastic
bag itself is still unopened. Roll films are generally individually sealed, and then put in 5-pack boxes. 35mm film comes in individual canisters. Sheet film might or might not have a fully sealed inner sleeve directly around the film itself.

I don't see the rhyme, reason or more importantly, the proof of overthinking and over-engineering long-term storage of film, and the subject certainly has consumed a lot of oxygen over time as a discussion point.

Film comes to you sealed in a cannister or foil sleeve. That's how it should remain until such time you are ready to use it, whether you store it in the fridge or deep freeze.

Ziplock bags are porous and will not protect from humidity. It's the chief reason why bushwalkers don't store items in plastic when heading into very humid, hot or generally very wet conditions. For that, specialist storage bags (hypalon) are available.

Taylor Nankervis said:

I don't see the rhyme, reason or more importantly, the proof of overthinking and over-engineering long-term storage of film, and the subject certainly has consumed a lot of oxygen over time as a discussion point.

Film comes to you sealed in a cannister or foil sleeve. That's how it should remain until such time you are ready to use it, whether you store it in the fridge or deep freeze.

Ziplock bags are porous and will not protect from humidity. It's the chief reason why bushwalkers don't store items in plastic when heading into very humid, hot or generally very wet conditions. For that, specialist storage bags (hypalon) are available.

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Sheet film does not come sealed in a foil sleeve; that is my major concern. I bought bulk and it's worth the effort to protect it as much as possible, as it will not be getting cheaper in the future.

Ziplock bags are better than nothing in a freezer, but I would rather use something a bit more sturdy.

I already have an impulse sealer and maybe I should use aluminized mylar bags with a desiccant pouch in each one.

Decisions, decisions...

Taylor Nankervis said:

. . .

Ziplock bags are porous and will not protect from humidity. It's the chief reason why bushwalkers don't store items in plastic when heading into very humid, hot or generally very wet conditions. For that, specialist storage bags (hypalon) are available.

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I have not found that to be correct. Ziplock bags properly sealed are not porous and do keep humidity out. I have been using them for storing film since 2003 and never had a problem that was related to the Ziplock bags.

Tell that to any commercial susceptible food bagger, Sirius. The FDA would shut them down in a heartbeat.

When I do use Zip-lok bags for film freezing purposes, I take my teflon tacking iron from my drymounting kit, and completely heat seal the end of the plastic bag.