Your collection reflects bits of your personality and serves as a physical archive of your memories. Whether they are toys, chinaware, photographs, or fandom memorabilia, keeping your collection tidy and damage-free is vital if you want your artifacts to last until the end of time.

To prolong the life of your collection, here are seven useful tips to safely store and arrange your favorite toys, nature finds, supplies, and rare collector items.

Keep Them Away from Direct Sunlight

No matter what your collection is, keep them away from direct sunlight. Exposure to the sun may cause them to fade faster. Extreme heat from the sun may also damage your collection, causing them to be brittle, heat up, or catch fire.

Store Them in a Dry and Clean Place

Display your lovely collection in a dry and clean place. If there are any gaps or holes on your walls and ceiling, seal them or caulk them to keep moisture and drafts from getting in. Exposing your collection to water may damage them faster.

Secure Them on Your Wall

Collections such as dolls, ceramics, books, toys, and vinyl records look great when neatly arranged on a shelf. Since shelves can take a lot of space, use your walls to hold floating shelves for your collection. Take a look at some of The Silk Residences units and see how you can strategically place floating shelves in your home while making your display look stunning and organized.

Store Them Behind Glass

If you want to keep your collection dust-free, store them behind glass. There are different styles of china cabinets that you can use to house your precious collection free from dirt, moisture, and pests. 

Display Them in Clear Boxes

Suppose you don’t have enough floor area for an extra china cabinet. Place your beloved artifacts inside glass cases or clear acrylic boxes. Storing them in clear boxes still allows your collection to be seen while keeping them free from dust, moisture, and possibly falling from their pedestal. Clear glass cases and boxes are also easier to move around if you want to rearrange them.

Dust Them

Dust accumulating on your collection is inevitable, so it is best to wipe them once a month to keep them clean and get rid of allergens. Microfiber cloths are ideal for wiping off dust without using water or chemicals that may damage your pieces.

Use a vacuum to reach small gaps such as the corners and hidden nooks of your shelves or cabinet. Vacuuming also allows you to clean off any potential colony or settlements made by harmful pests. You don’t want your collection to be a den of unwanted bugs.

Create Reminders for Conservation Efforts

For collections that need extra tender loving care, such as paintings, sculptures, antiques, and old photographs, you will need extensive conservation efforts to maintain the life of your collection. Schedule reminders for buffing, cleaning, restoring, or waxing to keep your collection pieces intact and ready for the next display. Conservation efforts may be quite pricey, but they help prolong the life of your collection. 

No matter what your collection is, keep them neat, organized, and in a safe place. Doing so will extend their lifespan, allowing you to enjoy looking at them longer and making them last until the next generation.

Jeff Morgan

Jeff Morgan is currently associated with NetworksGrid as a technical content writer. Through his long years of experience in the IT industry, he has mastered the art of writing quality, engaging and unique content related to IT solutions used by businesses. Topics like network security, managed firewall services, managed IT services and cloud computing like Best QuickBooks desktop hosting are his favorite.