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Recently I posted some comments from a friend of mine sent via private email dealing with the perceived mindset of many on preserving their patches for posterity.   Robert Ross has since revealed himself to be that writer.

A couple of readers have asked that he share his thoughts about how patches and Scouting memorabilia should be stored and preserved, with an eye towards long term preservation.   Mr. Ross is an archivist who has worked in libraries in the San Diego area.     The rest of this post is his words.

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I have seen a truly impressive collection of flaps. It was a nearly complete number collection. The display was impressive. However, the value of the flaps was greatly reduced. The owner of the collection managed to acquire a stand of swinging carpet sample frames. Think of a rack of posters, and you flip from one poster to another. The frames were metal with a cardboard centre. The owner affixed the flaps by stapling them to the cardboard backing. The staples had been present for years. The truly horrifying part about this anecdote is the collection includes an authentic Baluga.

When I informed this man about how he was ruining his flaps, his response was typical of collectors. He did not care because the collection was not going anywhere in his lifetime. Sadly, the collection he was leaving his heirs was losing value with every passing second, and by the time the collection would be sold, because of the poor storage methods, it would be worth only a fraction of what it could have been.

Collections need to be stored. Collections also deserve being showed. These two things often present a dilemma. What is good for storage is not necessarily good for display, and to go to the extent of museums is often prohibitive both in terms of time and cost.

Often the new collector is at a loss over what to do. They go to their first Trade-o-ree and see large, 3-ring notebooks filled with pages and pages of flaps and CSPs, and because it looks really cool, this is what they do to store and show their collection.

This is where everyone starts. It is where the author started. The author also had a supply of ziplock bags and paper inserts. This is how probably 98% of the hobbyists continue to store their collection, even after being in the hobby for decades. After storing their collection in a certain manner, they look upon the cost of changing their storage methods as being prohibitively expensive. The way to avoid this is to start correctly from the beginning. It’s easier to develop good habits than it is to drop bad ones.

The basic storage of the flap and CSP is the plastic page. Plastic is death to patches. It won’t happen now. It won’t happen tomorrow; maybe not even in the next couple of years. But it will happen. Everyone who has a vinyl notebook or business card holder has experienced the ripping sound when you remove a printed page that has been facing the plastic for some time. Often some of the printing is left behind. This happens because the plastic is breaking down, and leaching into the paper. This also happens to fabric, the generic term that will be used to refer to any sort of patch. Fabric by its nature is absorbent. Imagine all that sticky stuff that is pulling off the ink from a printed page being sucked into your patch?

There are a number of storage pages that exist that are good for storing patches. The most expensive (and also the absolute best, bar none) are made of polyester. Also called Mylar-D, these pages are crystal clear, and they will not break down. They will not react with the patches stored in them. A less expensive product is made from polypropylene. Pages made from this chemical are used extensively by archives. However the truly valuable items are stored in mylar. Be sure that the pages indicate that they are either acid-free or that they are P.A.T. approved. P.A.T. stands for photographic activity test. This test is used to ensure that photographs will not react with the pages, and if they will not react with photographs, they will not react with fabric.

Under no circumstances do you ever want to store your patches in plastic that is made of PVC. PVC is cheap, and breaks downs. It will turn yellow and have a petroleum smell. Most cheap plastic bags (especially those used to store comic books) are made from PVC, and they will accelerate the decay of your collection.

This link is a good source for storage of fabrics:
http://www.mohistory.org/img/unCommonThreadsSite/preserving_treasures.pdf. The article is not entirely germane to storing patches, but fabric is fabric, and it contains very useful information. I place particular emphasis on point number 5, which is something that all collectors do, but should not. The author is guilty of this himself. However, storing items in an air-tight environment is bad. You are essentially creating a miniature greenhouse. You especially want to avoid mold growth. Mold is a catastrophe in any volume. You will never get rid of mold spores, and if the item is easily and cheaply replaced, I strongly recommend that this be done.

Insects are another concern, especially when the collection includes natural fibers like wool and cotton. This can also include wood and cotton fibres that comprise printed materials. Steps must be taken to prevent infestation from insects that can literally eat your collection. Cedar strips are common, but it must be remembered that cedar will not kill moths, only prevent them from reproducing. Silverfish will eat paper, and they are commonly found where there is paper. The best way to prevent insect infestation is to regularly vacuum and dust the area where they are stored. Keep food and drinks elsewhere. If possible, you will want to attempt to regulate the temperature humidity where your items are stored. Lower is better. You will want to regularly inspect your collection for signs of insect damage, and if seen, you will need to take steps to eradicate the problem. In this area, preventative measures are the best methods for stopping a problem before it starts.

A good box to store a collection that uses both the concept of the page and 3-ring binder is called a binder box. It is an archival box that opens up to reveal a 3-ring binder. The rings are d-shaped, and will hold a large number of pages. These boxes are sturdy, but not air-tight. You can find them from a company called Light Impressions. Their web address is www.lightimpressionsdirect.com. You will be able to request a catalog, which I recommend. Be sure the products are P.A.T. approved. No, they are not cheap. But neither was that F-1 you just dropped $250 on.

The main things to remember when it comes to starting to create a method to store your patches are few. You want to avoid PVC plastic, while seeking polyethylene or polypropylene. Mylar is the best, but also expensive. Cheap notebooks are to be avoided for storing a collection. Rather you want to use binder boxes that are acid-free.

As the collection grows, and the collector becomes more advanced in his hobby, he will want to take his storage methods to the next step. It will be more expensive, but when we are talking about items that are worth thousands of dollars, maintaining the condition of the item become vital.

Storing a collection is an expense few think about, but if the novice collector develops good storage habits at the beginning, he will find that his collection is still in excellent condition when he is showing off his life-long hobby to his grandchildren. Conversely, those who decided to save money on storage will wonder what happened to their collection, or worse, his heirs will not be able to reap the benefit of a lifetime of collecting, and the loss of valuable items merely increases the value of the collections that were properly stored from the outset.

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Related Posts:

• On Preserving Memorabilia
• A Bevy of Gimogash Patches?!