Playing card in a ziplock bag?

[Jin Jian]

i have seen a couple of collection and they normally put a deck in a ziplock bag .. i am wondering is there any advantage in putting a deck of playing card in a ziplock bag?

[loldudex2]

Maybe if they are in a very moist and humid area, it may help in keeping moisture out of the deck to keep it safe.

[kensei777]

Probably nothing unless you live in a really humid area where as you need to seal your decks in airtight containers with a small pack of dehumidifiers. I may be wrong though.

[Jin Jian]

Maybe if they are in a very moist and humid area, it may help in keeping moisture out of the deck to keep it safe.

Probably nothing unless you live in a really humid area where as you need to seal your decks in airtight containers with a small pack of dehumidifiers. I may be wrong though.

ok thank i also think that too but just to confirm with you all .. does anyone of you put your collection in a ziplock bag??

[loldudex2]

I don't, but I also have a dehumidifier in my basement where I keep my cards, so that helps out a lot.

[Jin Jian]

ok i dun think i have that in my house .. if any body put a deck of playing card in a ziplock bag can you tell me if that is useful ?

[kensei777]

Well I used to before I got a cabinet and one of those silicone-like granule based dehumidifiers. I used to get the small packet of silicone from a newly bought box of shoes and throw it in with the deck in a ziplock bag. It does help specially if you live in a tropical climate, that is if you don't have anywhere else to put your cards.

[Jin Jian]

i put all my sealed deck in brick box and put all of them at a drawer and i put all my open deck in another draw .. do you think that i should use a ziplock bag ?? i live in Singapore

[hazofhorsham]

I use to put each deck in a ziplock back, and it saved me when a burst water pipe hit my collection, luckily the bags waterproofed everything and things were fine. Now however I have too many decks for that, so I keep them in drawers - which provide a decent amount of protection.

[kensei777]

i put all my sealed deck in brick box and put all of them at a drawer and i put all my open deck in another draw .. do you think that i should use a ziplock bag ?? i live in Singapore

It depends I guess. Singapore is also bit on the humid side so maybe. But if you're keeping them in a tight drawer, all you'll need is a dehum. I'm not sure there but I found mine in a grocery along with the air fresheners and cleaners.


Its a different story though if the drawers that you're using is a little on the loose side. Then you may need to consider ziplocks if they're going to be in storage for a while.

[jriffel]

Removing cards from their tuck box and placing them in a "sealed" environment can be a good idea.  I have found that many tuck boxes get too tight (especially if the plastic wrap is still attached) and will warp the cards over time.  I have had this happen to way too many decks, and I don't live in a very humid area.  The problem with zip-lock type bags is that very few of them are actually sealled from the outside environment. Even the better brands usually have small holes/gaps around the zipper or along the bottom corners. They help, but are useless over time.  The silica packets for de-humid get saturated very quickly and must be replaced often.  There are some "rechargeable" packets that you bake in the oven to dry out (I have four of these but don't use them anymore), they are a bit pricey. For my modestly sized collection, for the decks that I don't plan to resell, I remove the decks from the tuck boxes, store the tuck boxes, and place the decks in plastic boxes with plastic shims plates that keep them firmly flat in the boxes.  This also helps in flatening decks that are already warped or bent from use. Also they make a great display when lined up on bookshelves. The plastic boxes are not perfect for keeping out environmental extremes, so I have a small dehumidifier running during the summertime.  I put a lot of time and money into my current collection so I want to protect it as best as I can.

[Evan]

The plastic bags protect the deck. Also, It probably keeps humidity out and less dusty

[Kanped]

It really shouldn't make the slightest bit of difference.  Maybe if you vacuum packed it but a) I don't think it would really help much and b) that's insane.

[dmbaggs]

It really shouldn't make the slightest bit of difference.  Maybe if you vacuum packed it but a) I don't think it would really help much and b) that's insane.

I've seen that on people youtube videos. They have the decks in vacuumed air tight little bags. I thought it was silly, but I guess when thinking about it it's not a bad idea. Although I have no experience doing this to my decks so I can't say anything from experience.

[xela]

I'm not sure how a ziplock bag would help with humidity. It would be the same amount of humidity inside the bag as it is outside. I guess if you scout out your humidity levels and put it in the bag on a particularly low-humidity day it may work, but otherwise it's pointless.

The only detriment to anything made of paper is the change in humidity and temperature. You want to keep your items in a constant environment. So yes if you keep your decks in a bag it will help keep them from wearing down. It's akin to putting them behind a sealed glass case. However, if the variables in the bag are not conducive to the paper, it can harm your cards as well. That's why it should be vacuum sealed to have any real impact on preservation. All of this is, of course, useless for anyone who actually uses their cards regularly.

[shutupdangit]

Ziplock bags won't do much in the long run as moisture will eventually leak through, and as Alex mentioned, there will be some amount of moisture in the bag. Since hawjinjian lives in Singapore, a high humidity area, I think that the difference between bagging it on a low-humid vs a high-humid day would be negligible.


If you're talking about long term preservation of a paper product, they have materials specially made for this application.

[Don Boyer]

I can think of two good reasons for keeping decks in plastic zip-sealing bags.

1) Protection from water damage, as mentioned in the flood story above, or damage from contact with other harmful agents like dust, dirt, fingers, etc.

2) Protection from paper-eating insects.  When I used to go camping every summer, bugs were a major issue to deal with.

For both of these cases, if they present problems for you, it's very practical to consider buying decent-sized air- and water-tight storage, such as the ones used for food storage, or even better, camera equipment.  You don't want to go too large, though, because the larger the seal area, the greater the chance of a failure of the airtight seal.  Watertight camera equipment cases are also usually insulated inside with foam padding - cameras, lenses and related gear have the same environmental storage requirements as playing cards in many ways.  A really good one is also highly crush-resistant.

The main drawback to these solutions, though, is that your cards aren't on display - they're in storage.

[Siegismyname]

I live in Singapore too. What you can do is go to Daiso and get those charcoal that can remove odor and moisture for only 2 dollars and put it in your drawer with your cards. Once every few months you take the charcoal out to sun it under the hot blazing sun of our tiny city and it should be good to go for a few more months. At least that's what I do.

[Jin Jian]

I live in Singapore too. What you can do is go to Daiso and get those charcoal that can remove odor and moisture for only 2 dollars and put it in your drawer with your cards. Once every few months you take the charcoal out to sun it under the hot blazing sun of our tiny city and it should be good to go for a few more months. At least that's what I do.

ok thank i will going going to IMM Daiso to buy it .. if i buy the charcoal how many will i receive and do i need to put the charcoal in a bag or ??

[dmbaggs]

I'm lucky because I don't live in a high humidity area. I really don't see there being much risk for my cards. For now I keep my decks in a box that I keep in my room. There isn't much or any sun exposure at all. And the temperature isn't too hot or too cold. Is what I'm doing alright? I just want to make sure that my cards don't get destroyed haha

[Lushbob]

I'm lucky because I don't live in a high humidity area. I really don't see there being much risk for my cards. For now I keep my decks in a box that I keep in my room. There isn't much or any sun exposure at all. And the temperature isn't too hot or too cold. Is what I'm doing alright? I just want to make sure that my cards don't get destroyed haha

I'm basically the same as you - humidity is in no way a problem where I live, and I keep them in a box under my bed currently. I know it means they aren't displayed nicely, but it keeps them pretty safe for the moment. The temperature is also pretty uniform there - it's not right next to the radiator, but it's not too cold either.
Also, there's very little chance of any kind of extreme weather conditions in the UK - the worst I've experienced in my lifetime that I can remember is an extremely mild earthquake (the house just wobbled a bit, and nothing was broken), and an unusual amount of snow (which would probably be a laughably little amount to many of you).

[VortexHead]

I pretty much do what you do Lushbob, UK weather is good for the cards I think. Just try to keep them slightly warm in very cold weather, providing you've got your heating on the room should be a good tempreture for the cards.

[Siegismyname]

I live in Singapore too. What you can do is go to Daiso and get those charcoal that can remove odor and moisture for only 2 dollars and put it in your drawer with your cards. Once every few months you take the charcoal out to sun it under the hot blazing sun of our tiny city and it should be good to go for a few more months. At least that's what I do.

ok thank i will going going to IMM Daiso to buy it .. if i buy the charcoal how many will i receive and do i need to put the charcoal in a bag or ??

there are many different kinds of charcoal, some reusuable some not. Choose one that suits the place u put your cards. I bought the real the, those that u use for BBQ. That one is reusuable.

[kensei777]

Damn! We have Daiso here too. Why didn't I think of that? Most probably a cheaper alternative of what I'm doing now. 

[Jin Jian]

I live in Singapore too. What you can do is go to Daiso and get those charcoal that can remove odor and moisture for only 2 dollars and put it in your drawer with your cards. Once every few months you take the charcoal out to sun it under the hot blazing sun of our tiny city and it should be good to go for a few more months. At least that's what I do.

ok thank i will going going to IMM Daiso to buy it .. if i buy the charcoal how many will i receive and do i need to put the charcoal in a bag or ??

there are many different kinds of charcoal, some reusuable some not. Choose one that suits the place u put your cards. I bought the real the, those that u use for BBQ. That one is reusuable.

ok thank really thank for all the info .. btw can you keep a picture and show us how you use the charcoal and where you place it and how you place it ..

[Siegismyname]

I live in Singapore too. What you can do is go to Daiso and get those charcoal that can remove odor and moisture for only 2 dollars and put it in your drawer with your cards. Once every few months you take the charcoal out to sun it under the hot blazing sun of our tiny city and it should be good to go for a few more months. At least that's what I do.

ok thank i will going going to IMM Daiso to buy it .. if i buy the charcoal how many will i receive and do i need to put the charcoal in a bag or ??

there are many different kinds of charcoal, some reusuable some not. Choose one that suits the place u put your cards. I bought the real the, those that u use for BBQ. That one is reusuable.

ok thank really thank for all the info .. btw can you keep a picture and show us how you use the charcoal and where you place it and how you place it ..

this is my humble collection. i place the charcoal right in the centre. don't know if it helps.

[Jin Jian]

ok thank i get a rough idea of how that it use .. btw what is the deck beside the black crown deck?

[Don Boyer]

ok thank i get a rough idea of how that it use .. btw what is the deck beside the black crown deck?

Everybody, say it with me now: "GOOGLE IS YOUR FRIEND!"

http://fuckthishype.blogspot.com/2010/07/neighborhood-fight-alone-playing-cards_14.html

[Jin Jian]

ok thank i get a rough idea of how that it use .. btw what is the deck beside the black crown deck?

Everybody, say it with me now: "GOOGLE IS YOUR FRIEND!"

http://fuckthishype.blogspot.com/2010/07/neighborhood-fight-alone-playing-cards_14.html

okok i love google ok .. my best friend now

[Siegismyname]

Yes you are right don. It was a gift from my friend. Amazingly it handles not bad. And it is a smooth finish.