Storing alot of cels

I get peeved whenever I find out that the cel is stuck to the background...especially if it's a dark background that has bled onto the cel.

But, I get insanely peeved if the cel is stuck to wax paper. It may be acid free, but when wax is warm, it sticks to paint. Can't tell you how many cels I've had to pick wax paper off of.

I store all my cels in the Itoya portfolios. It might not be a realistic method if you have 500+ cels as the books do cost a bit, especially if you have several oversized cels and require the larger books.

For some cels, I use a piece of high quality rice paper in addition to the poly bags. I also do seperate the backgrounds from the cels and put those behind the poly bags in the cel books. I air out the cels from time to time and give them a fresh layer of rice paper as well. However, if a cel is severely stuck to its original layer and does not appear to be threatened by the background colors bleeding and damaging the cel, then, I leave them stuck.

Hello Krafty,

At K-mart or Wal-mart or at a store like them have in stock plastic storage boxes in a large range of sizes,These are used for storing sheets and bedding and the like and run in price of about 10 bucks to 25 bucks and can hold close to 1000 cels in them,But with a 1000 cels in them they do get heavy so if you can find them get the boxes with wheels to help move them around.
If you get the long,tall boxes they work very well for storing large pan cels upright,You can use rolled up bubble wrap to take up extra space until you fill them with cels.
These boxes have lids and some have locks or holes for a pad lock if you need one, Locks are good to keep kids and others out of your cels.

OTHER INFO:
I have heard over the years that folks hate the paper sticking to there cels front or back.
If you would like to avoid the sticking?
Take a unused cel bag and cut it all the way around and trim it to the size of your cel and place one sheet on the painted backside of your cel,This will keep it from sticking to copy paper backgrounds or real backgrounds if it is framed or bagged, This also works good if you "must" bag the drawing and the cel together,<--This I do not recommend as the drawing can yellow your cel over time.
Just like the cel bag you should change the backing and the cel bag every 4 or 5 years to keep them looking like new.

Roy

A helpful addition - if you decide to use cut cel bags for seperating sheets (I use them between cels and backgrounds to stop sticking and color bleed) consider investing in a $20 flatbed paper cutter. Your fingers will thank you. ;)

If you use the cel bags with the adhesive strip to close it (I don't but, I have received many cels this way), it is important to air out the cels twice a year or to punch a hole in the cel bag. Cels should not be kept in airtight bags and ignored for the long run, they will stick. I have a few that were beginning to stick and the plastic bag to sort of bubble and warp after a couple of years. This is because the gases in the paint have to have some room to escape! If you have time to air them all out and such, I suppose this should prevent it. As for me I just don't close the top of the cel bag and they have done fine in that manner for years.

As for the drawings, I don't have a whole lot of experience but, I gather that the care for them is just the opposite and that the bag they are in should be as airtight as possible to stop the oxygen from yellowing the paper.

Storing cels in those plastic boxes from Walmart? I would be tempted to try but I know that plastic containers like that can build up humidity inside and cause other types of collectibles (such as dolls) to mold over time. So, I would be afraid to risk it. Maybe wood boxes would be better?

Hiya Hyaku,

I'm going to share some of my years of knowledge storing cels and drawings of all types,Some this is what I have learned after years of trying different ways of storing and some from animators and cel painters and restorers and also many other animation dealers.
I'll try not to write anything that will hurt your cels and or drawings and if I have run into a bad item I'll post it, Also I would like to clear up some myths and old sayings about storage and care of your art.
Is all I write going to work for everyone? most likely not, But they are good hints and tips to try and help some that may not know what to do.
I have run the gambit of all the myths and old wives tales over the years.
Don't get me wrong if something new comes along I'll give it a try to see if it may be better and I'll try something someone may have a idea about, who knows it may work?
So here we go.

First: You do not have to put holes in the cel bag to vent the gases,This is only done on older Nitrate cels as these were very unstable and did brake down into flammable gases that could build up and explode if a flame was used around them.
You can ID these cels by there yellow or gray/yellow,greenish/yellow look and they all have shrinkage to them and most are wrinkled and warped on the front surface.
Most cels done in the past 20 or 30 years or more are painted with a latex like paint and the only thing it gives off is the water to make it fluid to paint with as it drys.
Leaving your cel bags open to the air leaves the cel or drawing undefended from the moist air and other contaminates in the air. The cel bag is used to keep the air around your cel or drawing as stable as possible and to keep dust and dirt away from them.
If you have well water make sure you bag them,Well water has all types of gases that it gives off that can harm your cels and drawings.
The bags should be changed out every 4 or 5 years for a new one as the cel and or paint tend to shrink over time, The paint more than the cel shrinks as it loses the water in the paint over time,you can see this in older cels as ripples or dents on the front of the cels where the paint is on the back of the cel.
This is what also causes the cel to stick to the drawing,If smashed with other cels in to tight a space,When the paint shrinks it gets smashed into the weave of the paper and there for sticks to the drawing.
To slow this shrinking down and have the paint stay more stable and not wrinkle the cel over time, You need to keep the cel in the bag and stiff so it does not bend back and forth,this lets the paint seal over and not shrink and wrinkle your cel,Think of it like this if you leave a piece of steel in the sun and it gets hot and you try to paint it, The paint will dry super fast and most likely will have cracks all over it because the paint dryed to fast,If you take the steel and paint it when it's cool and let it dry slow the paint forms a shell and does not shrink and crack even though the paint under the shell may take years to fully cure.
On cels the paint may feel and look dry but it could still be not fully cured all the way though, And if you let your cels get to dry and hot just once you can start to see ripples on the front from the paint shrinking/drying to fast,This also causes paint to flake off the cel.
So this brings me back to the point that modern cels need to be kept as stable as you can and a sealed bag is very important first step in this process,Also try your best not to let the temp change to fast from cold to hot a 20degree shift to fast can damage your cels and cause line loss,Most line loss is caused by bending the cel back and forth to much,The line on most cels is made from toner melted on the front of the cel in a xerox type copier,when bent back and forth the toner cracks and flakes off and leaves behind a goldish or brownish colored burnt spot that the toner was melted to,This is why a stiff backing board is needed to keep your cel flat.

As for drawings you are correct they also should be sealed in a bag but put them in there own bag and not with the cel as this can lead to faster yellowing and bleeding of colored pencil marks though the paint on the cel.
They are sealed from the air to keep the moist air from touching them,If water in the air reaches the drawing it starts the acids in the paper to burn the paper fibers and there for yellow and after a time brown the whole paper.
A good idea if you have the extra money is to back the drawing with a buffered paper to help keep the acidic part of the paper from burning the paper the drawing is on.
The buffered papers are used for storage and can help to keep acid damage to drawings to a minimum.


As for the plastic storage boxes I have and use about 50 of them and if you have humidity inside them you need to get yourself some desiccate for each box.
There are many types,I use the kind with the little white balls in a bag and they can be reused if you put them in the oven to dry them out.I'm lucky I do not have a water problem but I know lots of collectors do.
As for wood boxes you can use them but you need to be very careful as wood is very acidic.
Here is a very good use for buffered paper if you are going to use a wood box for storage you need to line the inside with the buffered paper to kill any acid given off by the wood,Don't forget to lay some buffered paper on top of the artwork before you close the box to help protect the art.

If anyone else would like to know anything more about storage and care post here and if I have heard or know anything about what you are wanting to know I'll post it here.
One of these days I'm going to write a E-book like Krafty told me I should,Well one of these days maybe?

Roy