ARCHIVAL STORAGE
The Importance of Archival Storage for Preserving Memories
Once your photos have been scanned and your home movies converted, storing the originals in archival-quality materials is vital to ensure their long-term preservation. Here’s what we recommend:
Acid-Free Materials: Use paper or cardboard free of acidic substances, with buffering agents added to maintain a pH of 7 or slightly higher. This helps prevent yellowing and deterioration over time.
Lignin-Free Storage: Choose materials free of lignin, a naturally acidic substance found in wood pulp. This reduces the risk of yellowing, brittleness, and cracking, keeping your photos in good condition.
Archival-Quality Plastics: Protect your collection from water damage, humidity, and leaks by storing it in containers made of polyester, polypropylene, or polyethylene. Avoid using PVC (polyvinyl chloride), as it can emit harmful chemicals that degrade your photos.
These steps ensure that your original photos and films are safely preserved, even as you enjoy their digital versions.
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The environment where you keep your archival storage boxes is just as important as the materials themselves. For long-term preservation, store your collection inside your home, in areas where the temperature and humidity are stable and controlled year-round.
Avoid placing your memories in:
Garages: Subject to extreme temperature fluctuations and moisture.
Attics: Prone to heat, cold, and potential leaks.
Basements: High risk of humidity, flooding, and mold growth.
Ideal storage locations include a closet, spare room, or interior space where conditions are cool, dry, and consistent. Protecting your collection in a controlled environment ensures it remains safe for future generations to enjoy, complementing the peace of mind that comes with having your memories digitized.
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Archival storage materials are specially designed to preserve your most cherished memories, including photo prints, slides, negatives, albums, scrapbooks, artwork, video tapes, and film reels. These materials are crafted to protect against factors that cause deterioration, such as acid, lignin, and environmental pollutants, ensuring your originals remain in excellent condition for years to come.
Archival storage materials include:
Negative sleeves, envelopes, and binders for organizing and protecting delicate items
Acid-free and lignin-free boxes for storing photos, albums, and documents
Archival-quality plastics like polyester, polypropylene, and polyethylene, which guard against water damage, humidity, and pollutants
We work exclusively with the best archival storage vendors in the world and use professional-grade materials for all client projects. For unique needs, our partners can even design and build custom storage solutions to ensure your special memories are perfectly preserved. Paired with proper storage in a temperature- and humidity-controlled environment, archival materials provide unmatched protection for your family’s legacy.
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Absolutely — the cost of archival storage materials is a small price to pay when you consider what’s at stake: your irreplaceable memories. Photos, slides, negatives, albums, and films are vulnerable to fading, discoloration, brittleness, and damage from poor-quality materials or improper storage conditions.
If preserving your family’s history and legacy is important to you, investing in archival-quality storage ensures that your cherished memories are protected for generations to come. These materials are specifically designed to prevent deterioration, shielding your keepsakes from environmental factors like acid, lignin, humidity, and pollutants.
The real question is: Do you want to keep your memories safe or risk losing them forever? Archival storage materials are a long-term solution that provides peace of mind, knowing your family’s story is secure and ready to be passed on.
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We use systems and processes that ensure the highest quality scans possible, preserving your memories in stunning digital detail. However, your originals — whether they’re photos, slides, or film reels — are the authentic, tangible form of your memories and carry unique sentimental value and energy that digital files simply can’t replicate.
Through our phased approach, we carefully curate your collection, helping you identify the best and most meaningful photos to keep. Once curated, you can store your originals in archival materials for safekeeping.
Ultimately, the decision is yours, but we recommend holding onto your originals. They are irreplaceable pieces of your family’s story and a connection to the past that digital files can’t replace.
