Card Savers- Acid and PVC Free?
Seaverfan
Posts: 80 ✭✭✭
Does anyone have definitive answer as to the whether Card Savers are acid free and PVC free? I could not find a definitive answer. I know there penny sleeves are clearly stated to be. Thanks
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Have you contacted the company directly?
Card Saver says "industry standard quality plastic."
Given that other major brands like Ultra Pro, BCW, and others have said their semi-rigid holder are PVC (Vinyl), I would say PVC is considered the "industry standard."
And the fact that Card Saver specifically avoids claiming or advertising their semi-rigids as "PVC free", tells me that yes, they are made with PVC.
I don't use Card Saver brand, but if you cand find on the package a
it would further confirm it's PVC. (I could not find the recycle number on the Humongous Hoard brand I use.)
I know of one company, Goldsmith Cards, that claims "PVC free" semi-rigids.
"The Goldsmith Cards Semi-Rigid Card Holders are made of high-quality archival plastic, are PVC-free and acid-free, and provide crystal clear clarity for your valuable collectibles."
I haven't used them and I do find it odd that their claim isn't stated on the packaging itself.
I would think it would be an important selling point.
The problem with PVC, is in the plasticizers that are added to make the PVC flexible; like in pages for a card album.
Since the card savers are rigid, i.e., not flexible, they don't have the added plasticizers; so they should be safe to use.
At least, that is how I understand it.
Steve
How long are people leaving cards in a semi rigid for? I only do when I ship to grade.
So you're saying you prefer stiff and rigid ?
It's the singer not the song - Peter Townshend (1972)
Forever in my case, cards in CS1’s are safe and view better then any other holder.
I am no chemist but from what I gathered... both polypropylene (PP) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) are both thermoplastic (can be melted and reformed multiple times) polymers made of repeating hydro-carbon monomer units in a long chain. The PP monomer unit contains a CH3 (methyl) side chain while PVC has a Cl (chlorine) side chain thereby giving each polymer different properties.
Both PP and PVC are lightweight, durable plastics that are resistant to moisture. PP is more inert and less flammable and burns cleanly, while PVC is more flammable and smoke is very toxic. PP is flexible and more deformable and less sensitive to solvents and therefore more stable long term while PVC is a rigid plastic and also breaks down more easily than PP. PVC is often made with stabilizers and plasticizers to improve its stability and flexibility. When PVC breaks down it can potentially damage cardboard (breakdown products include peroxide, alcohol, HCL/ hydrochloric acid, among others). So it seems, in the short term, both are quite stable but over time PVC breakdown byproducts that can potentially damage our cards.
So....from what's available on line from easily available product descriptions, soft penny sleeves are typically made from PP while rigid card holders are made from PVC. Now what about semi- rigid card holders?? Its not so clear.... BCW Semi- Rigid card holders are made from PVC. Goldsmiths Card Semi-Rigid card holders are made from PP. But I cannot find what CardSaver Semi- Rigid card holders are made from!!
If anyone can find out what Card savers are made from that would be very helpful in this discussion......
So....For long term storage use of cards in any rigid or semi-rigid card holder use PP penny sleeves.
Hope this helps.
I'm currently moving my cards out of binders, and into semi-rigid card savers. I've discovered too many cards that have been bent and even creased due to the pages sagging in the binders.
Steve
FYI....Some more info directly from semi-rigid card holder company ads
PVC Free:
Beckett Shield Semi Rigid Card Holders- "acid and PVC free"
Goldsmiths Cards Semi Rigid Holders- " archival, acid and PVC free"
PVC Containing:
BCW Semi Rigid Card Holders- "rigid stationary grade PVC; no plasticizers/stearates"
Ultra Pro Semi Rigid Card Holders- "clear PVC"
Guardhouse Semi Rigid Card Holders- "9 mil PVC"
Vault-X Semi Rigid Card Holders- "stationary grade PVC; no plasticizers/stearates"
Iron Guard Semi Rigid Card Holders- "clear vinyl"
Checkout Store Semi Rigid Card Holders- "archival 9 mil PVC"
Hobby Supply Semi Rigid Card Holders- "high quality PVC"
Unknown PVC Containing:
Cardboard Gold Card Saver Semi Rigid Card Holder- "crystal clear plastic"
Humongous Hoard Semi Rigid Card Holders- "crystal clear"
Card-Dict Semi-Rigid Card Holders- "acid free, residue free, high quality material"
Merrick Mint Semi Rigid Card Holders
Since Cardboard Gold Card Savers seem to be the most popular semi-rigid card holders, it would be great if we could definitively ascertain what the PVC status of the Card Saver Semi Rigid card holder is....
Hope the above helps.
well, this has been enlightening to me. I guess I just assumed at this point that everything would be acid free.
George Brett, Roger Clemens and Tommy Brady.
Ultra Pro and Cardboard Gold both use the same Chinese supplier.
Ultra Pros are PVC(vinyl). Do you think Card Savers wouldn't be?
Just invest the extra penny and put them in a penny sleeve first.
If you go through a lot of card holders, buy direct from China through Alibaba or similar.
Price is WAY cheaper, and you won't feel so bad with the 1-and-done use when you submit to PSA.
I think you would need archival quality or archival safe to be sure there will be no lasting effects of leaving them in their long term. there may be some archival safe penny sleeves.
myslabs.to/smzcards