Blu-ray inserts/covers damaged by moisture

[belgavin]

I have 400 or so blu-rays on a shelf in a spare room, the house is fairly old with limited insulation.

I have about 80% of the collection in resealable plastic sleeves. I realise this looks stupid to some collectors but I find it reduces shelf wear to cases, particularly slipcovers which I have a lot of.

I have mostly Criterion and Vinegar Syndrome releases. A few months ago I noticed a few movies had their inserts becoming wrinkled/rippled. These were movies that were not in the plastic sleeves. I figured I should be more diligent in putting them all in sleeves and didn't think much of it.

In the past week, however, I looked at some of the Vinegar Syndrome movies I had, and some inserts have slight to severe rippling even though they're STILL SEALED from the manufacturer AND sealed in a protective sleeve for the slipcover as well. What the hell?! These cases are protected by 2 LAYERS of plastic and the inserts have still been damaged? How is this possible?

Has anyone seen similar for still-sealed discs?

I suppose an argument could be made that the plastic sleeves are the problem by trapping moisture somehow. But the majority of the Vinegar Syndromes are fine, it's just a handful. Also I have 99% of Criterions in sleeves, and the one that has rippled really badly (Safety Last) was one of the only ones not in a sleeve.

Weirdly, I have a 15 or so Masters of Cinemas titles not in plastic sleeves, situated close to all the damaged Vinegar Syndromes, and they're all perfect.

There's no mould or dampness throughout the room except for occasional condensation on the windows. There is a small fishtank (possibly the culprit). I am going to move the shelf to another room and buy a dehumidifier.

I tried to fix the Safety Last Criterion insert by gently ironing it between some fabric. It has improved it, but slight ripples remain.

Has anyone had any luck fixing or reducing the ripples once they're there? Or are they toast?

[Phillip c. Niethe]

Buy a heated paper press. You can use it to fix badly damaged comics, prints, and mini posters as well.
Also keep collection in a temperature controlled room without moisture round 60°F -70°F. Also bags are probably not helping. Fish tank definitely not helping. I would gut the walls of your house, insulate, drywall, tape, mud, then paint over new wall. It's not as difficult as you might think. And is well worth what you save in heating and cooling and keeping your stuff in good condition. As well as increasing air quality

[capamerica224]

Originally Posted by Phillip c. Niethe

Buy a heated paper press. You can use it to fix badly damaged comics, prints, and mini posters as well.
Also keep collection in a temperature controlled room without moisture round 60°F -70°F. Also bags are probably not helping. Fish tank definitely not helping. I would gut the walls of your house, insulate, drywall, tape, mud, then paint over new wall. It's not as difficult as you might think. And is well worth what you save in heating and cooling and keeping your stuff in good condition. As well as increasing air quality

I can second using a heated press. I had a water heater leak last year that got into some of my comic books. I couldn't save all of the ones that got wet, but I've saved enough to pay for the press. I've also used it on video games boxes and instruction books to make them look better.

It might sound a little counter-productive but the press works best if you humidify the item first.

If you go this route I'd look up a few different videos on the best way to do this and test on something you don't necessarily care about, it can be a bit tricky to get the right heat/pressing time and humidity combination.

[belgavin]

Thanks everyone for the advice. I am moving the shelf to an internal wall in another room and a dehumidifier is on it's way. Hopefully that will help eradicate any future warping. We are also planning a major renovation in the next few years, so that should help with having a better temperature-controlled room with insulation.

[belgavin]

Originally Posted by capamerica224

I can second using a heated press. I had a water heater leak last year that got into some of my comic books. I couldn't save all of the ones that got wet, but I've saved enough to pay for the press. I've also used it on video games boxes and instruction books to make them look better.

What type or brand of press are we talking about? Are they like the presses used for t-shirt printing, but smaller?

[monomark]

Actually, I think paper quality plays a big part in how covers/inserts are affected by moisture and the environment.

Smaller labels probably use "all-purpose" or "regular" quality paper stock (but still professional-grade) to save money while bigger labels probably use paper stock developed for archival purposes that's designed to age well.

I've noticed some moisture warping in my music collection where some of my CDs from smaller labels have some issues while other CDs from bigger labels don't. In terms of my movie collection, I've noticed slight warping on my Warner Archive and other MOD (pressed) titles which I assume is because the company that manufactures them also prints the covers and they don't offer any higher quality paper stock as part of their service.

[Zarak]

Getting a dehumidifier is a good idea.

I used to have a huge vinyl and CD collection but lived in a house that had no central heating or air conditioning. I had an outbreak of what's called "foxing," which is the development of brownish spots on album covers and CD inserts, which is exacerbated by humidity and temperature changes. It really wrecked a lot of valuable and rare items in my collection and ultimately put a huge damper on my desire to collect physical music media. Later I moved into a house with climate control, and that's when I got into collecting movies.

I guess what I'm saying is that prevention is paramount—this is a problem you want to get out in front of instead of trying to fix it after the fact, because a lot of times, the problem will not be fixable.

[capamerica224]

The one I have is a Segawe, and yes, it's listed as a t-shirt press. I paid around $100 for it on ebay last year. This is the one I bought but there's plenty of choices that look similar to this:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/360-Degree-...QAAOSw539ZbH4P

[jdw89]

I don't really have an issue with this in California, however with the eco cases the artwork usually arrives wrinkled or with small punctures in it.

[Gary B.]

I live in the Pacific Northwest and have to constantly use a dehumidifier especially in the fall/winter. Upon opening a new Blu-Ray you can instantly see the art insert turn wavy. It's really too bad how thin these inserts are and I wish the labels (Vin Syn, AGFA etc) would use a higher quality paper stock, especially since most are around $30 now.