Update: just found out my 'blueprint' paper is eating my drawings over time

Was cleaning out old files from 2019 and noticed yellowing and cracking on some prints I stored in a standard cardboard tube. Turns out the acid in cheap kraft paper tubes can literally degrade the paper over a few years. Anyone else switch to plastic or pH-neutral storage?

3 comments

3 Comments

verap522mo ago

Oh man, that's rough. So basically your own art is slowly turning into a ghost in front of your eyes. I had some prints from a 2018 show stored in one of those cheap cardboard poster tubes and when I pulled them out last month they looked like they'd been through a paper shredder and then left out in the rain. The yellowing was so bad I thought I'd accidentally stored them in a coffee cup. Lesson learned I guess, now all my stuff goes in those clear plastic tubes from the hardware store.

anna9832mo ago

Wait, you had the same thing happen with a cardboard tube? That's exactly what happened to me with some sketches from 2016, I thought I was just being paranoid. But yeah, @verap52's story about the coffee cup look is spot on - mine had this weird amber tint too. I used to think any tube was fine but I've switched to plastic ones now, definitely not going back.

evan_jenkins1mo ago

Hard to believe a cardboard tube could do that much damage unless your sketches were stored in a damp basement or something. I've kept drawings in old gift wrap tubes for years with no issues at all. Maybe the problem is more about humidity than the tube material itself. Plenty of museums store things in acid-free cardboard for decades without trouble. A little yellowing never hurt anyone either, adds character if you ask me.