Baseball Card Display Tips and Information
What good is owning a really sweet set of baseball cards if you can't safely display them? In order to preserve your collection when it's on display you'll need to be sure to maintain a safe environment. Since baseball cards are essentially paper, much of the information below was found on sites that specialize in museum quality paper preservation and display information.
- Lighting - lighting can be the biggest threat to the preservation of your baseball cards. Specifically, ultra violet light will fade color, discolor the paper stock and potentially damage the paper stock. Never allow your baseball card collection to be exposed to direct sun light. Overall lighting levels should be no more than 50 lux, which is the equivalent of a normally lit family living room. UV content should be a maximum of 75 microwatts per lumen and preferably below 30. Special museum quality lighting can be purchased for spotlight usage and avoid fluorescents for your general overhead lighting. Incandescent light bulbs generally yield relatively low levels of UV light.
- Temperature - 64-72 degrees Fahrenheit and avoid extremes significantly above or below these ranges. As such, I'd recommend storing your baseball card collection in the basement rather than the attic. When displaying your cards be mindful of windows, radiators and vents that can cause erratic temperature changes.
- Humidity - humidity can damage and warp cards as well as cause mold. Keep your cards in the range of 45%-55% humidity. If you use a dehumidifier be careful not to overdo it because they will emit ozone which can also have damaging effects on your baseball cards. If you display your cards in toploaders with PVC free sleeves, this can generally reduce their exposure to humidity.
Get silica gel packs on eBay to protect your baseball cards from moisture when in storage and on display.
There's a lot more that we can add about the safest way to display your baseball card collection so we'll be making updates. Hopefully these tips are a good start and please feel free to contact us at connect@baseballcarddisplaycase.com if you have more suggestions to help safely display card collections.