Storing negs in my attic.

[thefizz]

I understand it is best to store negs in a cool environment, so I have put them in my attic in Jessops neg sleeves and in a box, as this is obviously the coldest place in the house. In summer I will take them down as it can get quite hot them.

Does this sound ok, should I be concerned about dampness in the attic?

Regards,
Peter

 

[eumenius]

Oh, the dampness is the worst enemy of the negatives - especially the ones in plastic sleeves. The mildew would love to live there on a nutritious emulsion. I think the best choice for negative storage is to keep them flat in their sleeves, kept in a tightly closing box in, say, your living room, where is no large variations in humidity and temperature. A really cool environment is not needed if the film is already developed, avoiding dampness and overheating should be a concern. In a regular living room the negatives usualy feel quite OK. I store all my negatives and slides in a box in my book cabinet, with great results

Cheers from Moscow, Zhenya

 

[Bob F.]

If your attic was damp, you would have much bigger problems than keeping negatives safe ! I would agree though: somewhere in the dry at normal room temperatures would be better than the rapidly fluctating temperatures of an attic with uninsulated eaves.

Cheers, Bob.

 

[thefizz]

Thanks Zhenya & Bob,

I should have mentioned that the negs are in a small room in my attic which I made for storage and it is insulated, so they may not be prone to much dampness as they would be if in the main part of the attic. Still there is no heat in this room so it still may not be for the best. I think I'll go with your suggestion and leave them in a cabinet in my sitting room.

Would my unexposed paper and chemicals be ok in my attic storage room?

Peter

 

[Bob F.]

I would guess that as paper will not be kept for too long, it will be fine. Ditto chems. As it is insulated, it may be OK in summer - wait for a sunny day and check...

Cheers, Bob.

 

[thefizz]

I would guess that as paper will not be kept for too long, it will be fine. Ditto chems. As it is insulated, it may be OK in summer - wait for a sunny day and check...

Cheers, Bob.

Hi Bob, I'm afraid it will be very hot on a sunny summers day so I will move all paper & chemicals down for the summer.

Thanks,
Peter

 

[avandesande]

The widely varying temperatures are probably not good for the negatives. I wouldn't be suprised if the gelatin has a limited amount of expand/contract cycles before it cracks. I would just put them in a closet in the house.

 

[Michel Hardy-Vallée]

I would guess that as paper will not be kept for too long, it will be fine. Ditto chems. As it is insulated, it may be OK in summer - wait for a sunny day and check...

Cheers, Bob.

Wouldn't the gelatin on the paper be similarly sensitive to humidity in this case?

 

[Bob F.]

Wouldn't the gelatin on the paper be similarly sensitive to humidity in this case?

There is no humidity... Humidity was only mentioned in passing as one of the things to avoid by eumenius.

Bob.

 

[Michel Hardy-Vallée]

Oh, right... Missed that...

 

[eumenius]

Peter,

if the room in your attic has no heating, the chemicals also can be damaged by cold - in some concentrated solutions like Rodinal stock a precipitate of active ingredients can form, changing the developer's formula in an unpredictable way. And the paper should keep there well in an original hermetically sealed packing, unless it's hot there in summer.

I keep my paper and unexposed film just in fridge in my lab, but I have a separate fridge there... for a reasonable time the paper can be easily stored in room temperature with no problems, I think one year as an estimate. I used 30-year old Soviet paper kept in RT with no fog or contrast reduction - of course today's papers with developers included and multigrade are more sensitive to bad storage.

Cheers from Moscow,
Zhenya

Thanks Zhenya & Bob,

I should have mentioned that the negs are in a small room in my attic which I made for storage and it is insulated, so they may not be prone to much dampness as they would be if in the main part of the attic. Still there is no heat in this room so it still may not be for the best. I think I'll go with your suggestion and leave them in a cabinet in my sitting room.

Would my unexposed paper and chemicals be ok in my attic storage room?

Peter

 

[Charles Webb]

I can't say yea or nay about storeing negs and prints in the attic. But I can that I lost approximately 2/3 of my entire life work in photography by storing them in an insulated attic. Several years back, we had a Summer with afternoon hail nearly every day for a week or so. It was amazing to find out how much water could keak through those tiny holes, it is more amazing how much water 16x20 mounted and many framed PPofA prints can absorb during a short time. My negatives were in plastic NegaFiles inside regular steel file cabinets. The top two drawers of six cabinets files were glued into their plastic sheeths and all but a few were moved to the dumpster.

I had no clue until several months later that the roofing had failed. The thought of a leaking roof never entered my mind, but it permantly is engraved there now. I check everything now after even a small storm. The water that destroyed my photographs never reached the living quarters, so as I say we had no clue.

Again, I thank the Lord for "Bad Luck" cause with out it I woulden't have any luck at all!

Charlie......................