Warping: What Do I do?

[Disheveledamethyst]

Today, feeling nostalgic, I opened up my secret briefcase full of childhood trading cards to find some of my cards had cupped rather severely. Warping isn't that big of a deal with trading cards. Pressure and time will flatten them properly, but it got me worrying about my posters. I keep my posters in mylar sleeves in the same room, almost identically to my cards, so I had to take a look. On one or two of my posters, there is some very light rippling along the bottom edge.

I was justly mortified. I plugged in my dehumidifier and placed it next to my collection.

This drew my attention to the poster I have framed. I had noticed some light waves before, but I blamed it on the frame, and I was never too concerned. I also have this poster "archived" in my collection, so I don't particularly care if it got ruined. I decided to take a picture of it, because I'm planning on framing several more pieces and want to arrange them pleasingly. The first picture came out fine.



Then I took a picture from a distance.



To my horror, the camera flash revealed the waves in my poster to be far more pronounced than I had originally believed. I'm beginning to fear the environment I live in is not suitable for my posters, many of which were expensive and difficult for me to acquire, and I'm panicking. I don't much care about the one in the frame, but the extremely minor waves on two or three of my precious posters are extremely concerning. Is there any way to remedy this damage?

With my collection becoming more ambitious, I can't in the right mind continue collecting until I know my posters can be safe. Is this due to humidity? Can I flatten out the waves just like my trading cards? Is this moisture still trapped in the paper at this very moment?

This is a nightmare for me. HELP.

[jayn_j]

Those look like stress wrinkles, not moisture.  Could be wrong.

How are you framing these?  Whose frame, what glazing, what backing?  A better frame with thicker glazing will hold the poster tighter and prevent the sort of waves you are seeing.  These should also press out over time when stored properly.

Just my opinion.

[Disheveledamethyst]

Those look like stress wrinkles, not moisture.  Could be wrong.

How are you framing these?  Whose frame, what glazing, what backing?  A better frame with thicker glazing will hold the poster tighter and prevent the sort of waves you are seeing.  These should also press out over time when stored properly.

Just my opinion.

The frame is glass and sucks. The backing is generic acid-free foam core and I did it at a local frame shop. I know the poster isn't housed very tightly and the poor frame is exactly why I bought a duplicate.

The concern however is my sleeved posters, which are far more valuable to me. I can't imagine how they could be stressed when stored safely in mylar. But so were my trading cards, and they're having a rough time. But these are my other posters:





See? Happy posters in happy homes. or not?

[ddilts399]

Keeping your room humidity in the 40% range is a crucial aspect of paper storage. My wife complains, but I run dehumidifiers 24x7.

Cool, dark and humidity control are the big 3 to keep paper lasting longer. I imagine the ripples are just from hanging as well and would eventually relax back out.

[wormie]

Just off the topic, Anthony. Where did you get those large mylar sleeves with flap. The organization of your posters that way is really neat.
Hope those happy posters are in happy homes indeed.

[Dread_Pirate_Mel]

Anthony, I occasionally see that kind of warping.  Usually the poster is too large for the frame.  Any kind of pressure on the poster will also cause warping, which is why I don't use the metal pressure clips on the back. The camera flash does exaggerate the warping. 

[Der Januskopf]

They look to be stress ripples.. also.. if someone were to put a poster into a frame that it was too large for, there would more than just rippling. There would also be MAJOR edge damage all the way around -- bending, 'crunching' etc. I would thing that most in this group would know better than to try and squeeze a poster into a frame that was even slightly too small. Common sense, and it would be easy to see and determine even before putting the backing or acid free foam core back into place.

That frame looks to be the right size for the Toy Story poster.

[Disheveledamethyst]

Just off the topic, Anthony. Where did you get those large mylar sleeves with flap. The organization of your posters that way is really neat.
Hope those happy posters are in happy homes indeed.

I actually had them custom made by a privately owned manufacturer. I ordered fifty with a friend, we split them 25/25, and it came out to about $500+ shipping. They also have the binder tab at the top and I'm building a binder to house them. However, the company claims that they won't do protective flaps anymore! I don't know if it was just because of my order (which had a lot of modifications) or something else. I'm trying to get them to make a special accommodation for me, because the sleeves are AWESOME and I want some smaller ones for my B2s.

They look to be stress ripples.. also.. if someone were to put a poster into a frame that it was too large for, there would more than just rippling. There would also be MAJOR edge damage all the way around -- bending, 'crunching' etc. I would thing that most in this group would know better than to try and squeeze a poster into a frame that was even slightly too small. Common sense, and it would be easy to see and determine even before putting the backing or acid free foam core back into place.

That frame looks to be the right size for the Toy Story poster.

The frame does measure 27x40. I literally dropped off the poster and had the woman build the frame around it. But that doesn't mean it's not just a lousy frame. Maybe it has something to do with the glass, but I'm leaning towards the problem having to do with humidity. I live in the basement and it gets... damp.

But again, my concern is with the posters in my sleeves! They have plenty of room (the sleeves are 27x41 and the posters are 27x40) and they've been laying perfectly flat one on top of the other for months. The only reason I can imagine there would be some waves forming (which are along the bottom edge of one or two of the posters) would again be humidity.

So forgetting the poster in the frame, how do I reverse the damage on the posters that aren't hanging in a questionable frame?

[MoviePosterBid.com]

Anthony

obviously in Maine, you're going to get lots of humidity, especially closer to the coast.
If have an evaporative air-cooler for a/c, that adds more moisture to the air.

Ideally, you should keep the dehumidifier on and you also need to examine - does the sun hit that room at morning, or night? Is there a way to reduce the temperature fluctuation?

also, you shouldn't frame under glass. Glass transfers heat while plexi glass does not
the heat will toast your poster

[Disheveledamethyst]

Anthony

obviously in Maine, you're going to get lots of humidity, especially closer to the coast.
If have an evaporative air-cooler for a/c, that adds more moisture to the air.

Ideally, you should keep the dehumidifier on and you also need to examine - does the sun hit that room at morning, or night? Is there a way to reduce the temperature fluctuation?

also, you shouldn't frame under glass. Glass transfers heat while plexi glass does not
the heat will toast your poster

I have a dehumidifier, but I'm lazy about emptying it. I have it running right now though. The room, let alone the frame, never gets any direct sunlight. I have one window and otherwise everything is artificial. We don't have air-conditioning, so the room's temperature fluctuates with the weather.

I now know about the dangers of glass. I wish I'd known before I dropped $120 on the frame. It was a newbie mistake, which again, is why I bought another poster.

[Tob]

Dry mounting should sort it out 

[Disheveledamethyst]

Dry mounting should sort it out 

Swift solutions for all my problems!

[MoviePosterBid.com]

We don't have air-conditioning, so the room's temperature fluctuates with the weather.

that's your #1 problem

here's what happenes every day: the temperature in that room gets warm during the day and cool at night. such activity creates very low levels of unseen condensation.

anything you have hanging on an outer wall is more succeptable as it feels the heat radiation in the morning or evening when the sun is on the outside of those walls

your items are getting moisture at night and drying out during the day. the constant to-and-fro results in curling and or rippling

[Neo]

that's your #1 problem

here's what happenes every day: the temperature in that room gets warm during the day and cool at night. such activity creates very low levels of unseen condensation.

anything you have hanging on an outer wall is more succeptable as it feels the heat radiation in the morning or evening when the sun is on the outside of those walls

your items are getting moisture at night and drying out during the day. the constant to-and-fro results in curling and or rippling

This.  Especially noticeable for paper in frames.

All paper will do that rippling to some extent, thinner paper more so than thicker paper (one more reason I like card stock), especially in frames.  The bay is about 30 feet from my abode, and it is obviously extremely humid at times, so when I do open the sliding glass doors, it is only briefly, and then the AC gets my condo back to the "right" temperature, but like Rich said, it's best to have as close to a constant temperature in the room at all times.  For framed stuff, it's best if they are held a little tightly at the upper edge, and then the sides and lower edge just enough so the backing board is secure.  If you really crank the sides down with those springy clips on metal frames, then there will be a lot of rippling, in my experience.  Another thing I like about flexible points used in a wood frame, I can bend them in more on the upper edge than on the sides and lower edge, so there is some pressure, but not like clamped down pressure as with the springy clips.

Anthony, you don't have air conditioning?    

[MoviePosterBid.com]

Anthony, you don't have air conditioning?    

he lives in Maine.. it only gets above 40 degrees during the afternoon

[Disheveledamethyst]

he lives in Maine.. it only gets above 40 degrees during the afternoon

From my knowledge and experience, air conditioning is not very popular or necessary in New England, especially northern New England, and especially in Maine. It just isn't consistently hot enough to require climate control. The real concern is heating your space, not keeping it cool.

[MoviePosterBid.com]

From my knowledge and experience, air conditioning is not very popular or necessary in New England, especially northern New England, and especially in Maine. It just isn't consistently hot enough to require climate control. The real concern is heating your space, not keeping it cool.

meanwhile, here is Las Vegas, it's just short of 110 right now, so a/c is needed to keep the heat away
then, at the end of Dec, it will be as low as 25, so yuo need heat to keep teh cold away

it's an alternate universe theory

[Neo]

In Florida, AC is extremely popular, and people are constantly complaining about how hot it is outside.  Just hard to imagine places that don't need AC.

[CSM]

Dry mounting should sort it out 

 

[MoviePosterBid.com]

In Florida, AC is extremely popular, and people are constantly complaining about how hot it is outside.  Just hard to imagine places that don't need AC.

all I know is that it's hot and Nevada Power sucks