By: Brad Kartel
Submitted: 2011-07-18 23:03:30 | Word Count: 613
Are you into the hobby of post-crossing? Have you already gathered so many postcards from well-meaning family and friends from the around the United States and overseas? Then you might not know it yet but you are already a postcard collector. You now probably have many kinds of mailers that are products of different kinds of postcard printing and you realize that it would be a great hobby to make it a real collection.
And when you have a collection, you have to store it properly to protect it from the elements and from insects that could destroy them. You want your postcards to remain in their best condition. Additionally, storing them does not mean keeping them in a vault because like with any other collection, you would also like to show off your postcard collection to other enthusiasts or pretty much everyone who is interested, right? It would also be a good opportunity to let people know that you are already into the hobby so that they could start sending you more. That is just how it is. People feed the collection of others when they get wind of it. Now here are some ideas on how to properly store your postcard collection.
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1. Look for good quality plastic holders made of uPVC that will enable you to make an archive. uPVC is a great archiving material because it prevents acidic oils from forming on the surface of your cards and destroying them. You can easily find them at an art supplies or an art collectors shop.
2. Purchase the cardholders with slots that are slightly bigger than the cards to prevent tearing, creasing, or bending the corners of your cards while inserting them. The worst thing that you can probably do to your collection is to cut the edges to make them fit the holder. That is a big no-no!
3. Keep your postcard collection holder in a cool and dry place because excess heat and moisture or direct sunlight may cause them to stick together or discolor. Additionally, keep them away from areas where there is a lot of smoke, whether from cigarettes or other sources, because continually exposing them with make the cards turn brown.
4. Now that you have a postcard holder, do not think that you can already put them anywhere. Take your storage to another level by placing your cards in an album or a postcard box so that they are protected from getting misplaced or from other causes of ruin. You only remove the postcards from the holders if you want to view it or show it off. Otherwise leave them on the holders to avoid damage from too much handling.
5. When looking for an album, choose the non-acidic paper album pages so that your cards are protected from the acids that could ruin the paper and the printing. If you are going to just buy paper dividers, then choose those that have a pH level of 7.0 or higher.
6. If you get wind of a postcard exhibit in your locality, go visit them and see how they take care of their collection. Their postcards are often store in secure containers that can be locked in order to protect a great many number of postcards.
When you are into the collection of postcards, you will realize that they do not only come in postcard printing format. Some might be customized and handmade, as these will come from family members and friends. You will need to have special storage for that.
Author Resource:-
Brad Kartel is a marketing executive whose passion is helping business owners build their campaign through postcard printing. Learn how to create postcards.
