Storeage Question

[MattC]

I have to store some hats, both felts and straws, in the basedment of my apartment building. It can be damp down there, and warm (steam heat). I usually store hats with cedar to keep away the moths. Any other suggestions on what I should do? Are plastic boxes better than cardboard? Thanks for any help.

 

[DKC]

Matt C,

Personally I use a hat rack that supports the hat upside down. When I do store a hat I always use cardboard with cedar chips. The felt and leather is a biologic and would degrade/mold relatively quickly in plastic. As I learned long ago in evidence collection - never put a biologic in plastic.

 

[Siirous]

On a little sidetrack

Why is it that a biologic (In this case the hat) would mold in plastic moreso than cardboard, you would think that if you had a sealed plastic container it would keep out the oxygen bacteria need to live. Care to shed any light?

With Respect,
Rob

 

[photobyalan]

Simple. Because mold needs moisture to grow. Plastic holds in moisture while cardboard allows moisture to escape. The interesting thing about mold is that the products of its metabolism are carbon dioxide and water. This means that the mold can start off with very little moisture and then produce its own as it grows, in effect speeding up the growth of the mold by providing its own ideal growing environment. Having an environment which holds moisture in helps the mold tremendously. Try this: put a piece of bread in a cardboard box and another in a sealed plastic bag. Leave them at room temperature for two weeks. You probably won't find much if any mold on the one in cardbaord, but the one in the plastic should be quite moldy.

The amount of oxygen needed for mold growth is minimal and you would need almost a total vacuum to completely inhibit mold. It's much easier to provide a dry environment by using ventilation or dessicants (like silica gel) which can be quite effective at stopping mold.

 

[MattC]

Thanks for the tips

Thanks for the tips guys. This is a big help.

 

[riccardo]

Just in time, guys.

Hi to all,
last week end I was near to buy some sheet of plastic...to make some hat box.
But I know, now, cardboard is better, the hat have to breath...
I'll go to looking for some cedar chips.
Thanks.
Riccardo.

 

[riccardo]

Again...

I store my hat into some cardboard boxes.
I found some of these into a discount. They are perfectly square, I make a pile with them, one above the other one...it's a good solution (for me) I have only two original hat boxes...the other are all discount's boxes...
I would like to build some hat boxes with balsa wood, is this matter good for felt hat, or is it good only for Panama Hats ?

Thanks to all.
Riccardo.

 

[Siirous]

Interesting with the plastic. I'll be sure to use cardboard boxes for my hats!

With Respect,
Rob

 

[MattC]

Further Question

I'm going to be storing the hats in a basement in NYC. While we've never had a problem with either mice or rats in this building, we're downtown, so mice seem a likely problem at some point. I think it is true that rodents will eat through cardboard to get food. Do they eat hats? Are cedar chips a deterrent? Any help you could give would be greatly appreciated.