Help: Cels and Heat

[sailorsv13]

Hello,
This has been answered before a million times and I have read a couple of posts warning about temperature and cels. But I wanted some specifics if anyone can help me out. I just moved out and live in the top of my university-owned house (no air conditioning of course) and the upstairs is very warm even with the windows open/fans blowing. It probably gets to 80 degrees by evening time and it is not yet the hottest part of the summer. So the question is, how hot is too hot for cels? I have yet to move my cels, they are still in my mom's nicely air conditioned closet where I used to live. But I am having cel withdrawals and want them to be by my side! I thought about storing them downstairs where it is probably about 20 degrees cooler than my room, however with three other roommates, I worry about them getting moved around or something! I am so darn possessive, but rightfully so! At this point I am pretty sure the best thing to do is just leave them with my mom, who is more than willing to store them for me, but I wanted to see if there were any other possibilities. I do not have a closet in my room! I would have to create a dark space!

Your suggestions are much appreciated! Thank you!
~ Bri ~

[pixie_princess]

Personally, I'd keep them with your mom. Even if your roommates are trust worthy, that doesn't mean their friends are. I found out the hard way that a friend of a friend is not necessarily your friend. The summer is going to get much hotter. I know that, at least with vinyl dolls, and acrylic paints, places that are hot and humid like Georgia and Texas cause a lot of stress on the dolls that are made-over. I think it might create a simular hazzard for your cels.

[backlotanimation]

Hello sailorsv13,
The very best way to store your cels is to remove any drawings that may be in the same cel bag as the drawings and place them in a vault at 70-75 degrees with 10 to 20 % humdity,But as we all know this can not happen because most of us don't have a Vault handy.
So the next best thing is to try to keep the cel/drawings the best way we can.
Make sure you stand the cels upright and not flat on top of each other to keep them from sticking and to save your lines on the front of the cels.
Humidity is the killer of most cels second only to rough handling.
If you keep the cel/drawing stable ie a constant temp,no fast ups or downs in the temp your cels/drawings can take up to 100 degress as long as the humidity is low.
Here is a cheap way to help store your cels in the heat.
Get yourself a good size cooler with a locking lid(to keep out roomies) and use painters tape to close and seal it if it's not a tight seal to keep out the moist air,You can even put a disectant or air dryer like the kind you get in shoe boxes ect,(the little round white balls in a small package) you can use baking soda if you dry it in the oven first and let it cool,This removes all water in the baking soda.
What the cooler does is it keeps the air stable around your cels,It takes a few days of high heat to change the air temp in the cooler but the night time cool air stops the rising heat because the cooler is harder to heat than it is to cool so the cool air stays longer than the hot air therefore the cooler never gets hot unless you put it in the sun or next to a heater.
If you only open the cooler in the late afternoon or at night time when it's cool your cels will stay within 5 degress of the night time temps do to the coolers way of holding cool air inside and keeping the heat out.
Make sure you never leave the cooler next to a window in direct sunlight or it will make the cooler act as a green house,Not a good thing!!!
If you have super high end cels I would leave these with your mom just to make sure they are safe from the heat and the other roomies you may have.
I have used this way of storing cels for years, The only thing I do to these is change the cel bag every 2 years to keep them fresh and for no sticking.
Drawings should be put in there own bags and sealed so the yellowing from moist air does not happen(moist air+acid in the paper=yellowing ie burning).
always store your drawings away from the cels to keep down the acid content around your cels and the paint on them.
When you go to move the cels to your room put the cels in the cooler and leave the lid open for day or two before you move them so the cels and the cooler are the same temp,This way the cooler does not have to be cooled off after you get to your room,This also helps to make the air temp stable in the cooler because the airconditioning drys the air and cools it before the move.
Try not to open the cooler for atleast 2 days to get it used to the new surroundings and the temps to settle out at the night time temps.

I hope this little bit of info helps you out some?

Roy (DBA)Backlotanimation

[sailorsv13]

That's great guys, awesome ^.^ I'm glad I live in Nevada where there is the least humidity ever! Believe me, lotion companies make the big bucks here! I will probably keep them at my mom's in a dark closet...and in the meantime work on getting a cooler. I miss my cels!

~ Bri ~

[backlotanimation]

Igloo makes a nice metal sided locking cooler and as a bonus you can use it as a side table next to your bed for your lamp and books.
It's strong enough to sit on if needed!

Roy

[sailorsv13]

That sounds perfect! I'll do that then!
~ Bri ~