What is it made of & is it archival quality?

We are always asked, what kind of material is used in one of our items, and of course - is it safe for long term storage?  We love getting this question as it allows us to talk about the materials that SAFE uses versus the materials that many of our competitors use.

As it states very succinctly on our website:  We guarantee that ALL material that comes in contact with your collection is archival quality, acid free, 100% free of plasticizers (chemical softening agents) and free of stearates. The polyester foils used in manufacturing is scientifically tested to insure it does not contain any harmful plasticized PVC.  Not all polyesters are acceptable. Only ones that have been tested and proven to be chemically stable for long periods of time should be used.

Our stamp albums, coin albums, currency albums, postcard albums and fdc cover albums only contain album pages that meet these stringent requirements.  I actually think that the Library of Congress (LOC) also describes it well when it discusses recommendation for preservation of materials:

• Use acid-free and lignin-free paper materials
• Use polyethylene, polystyrene, polypropylene, or polyester film plastics
• Use wheat-starch paste instead of any other kind of glue, or use non-adhesive attachment methods like acid- and lignin-free paper photo corners or polyethylene photo corners
• Avoid rubber bands, self-adhesive tape, paper clips, staples as these materials may leach towards the material
• Choose an expandable album format with heavy/thick stock for album pages that are adequate to support the weight of the added material

The LOC is not permitted to recommend any brand or vendor, but we are thankful that they purchase some of their materials from us.  I am not going to point fingers at any one of our competitors.  The purpose of this article is to make sure you are asking the right questions regarding the source of the material.  Not only what type of material is used, but what the source country of the material is.  And what are their current quality test standards in place to insure the base material that they receive is truly archival quality and meets the LOC's standards.

Just make sure to stop and ask the right questions to insure the long term viability of your collection.