How do I display a collection without damaging it?

Display and preservation pull in opposite directions. The four agents that damage displayed objects — light, humidity, dust and handling — and how to reduce each without hiding the collection away.

Difficulty: beginner
Time: 45 min
Read: 5 min

Short answer

Keep it out of direct sunlight and away from spotlights, on an interior wall rather than an outside one, in a case with a door to keep dust off, at a stable moderate temperature and humidity. Rotate light-sensitive items rather than displaying them permanently, and never display something irreplaceable where it can be knocked.

A collection kept in a box is safe and pointless; a collection on an open shelf in a sunny room is enjoyable and slowly destroyed. Everything here is about reducing the four agents of damage enough that display becomes a reasonable trade rather than a slow loss.

What you'll need

A display case or cabinet with a door
An interior wall away from radiators and windows
Inert mounts, stands and backing materials
A soft brush or a blower for dusting

Step by step

Deal with light first, because it is the least reversible.Ultraviolet and visible light fade dyes, yellow paper and plastics, and degrade textiles. Direct sunlight is the worst, and a spotlight aimed at a shelf is not much better. Fading is cumulative and permanent — there is no recovery.
Choose the wall before the cabinet.An interior wall, away from a window, a radiator, a fire and an external door. External walls are cooler and can be damp, and the temperature and humidity swing next to a radiator is worse than the average temperature.
Use a case with a door.Dust is abrasive, it holds moisture against a surface, and cleaning it off repeatedly is itself a source of damage. A glazed cabinet reduces the cleaning to occasional rather than constant, which protects the objects more than the glass does.
Aim for stability rather than a specific number.Objects tolerate a moderate temperature and humidity far better than they tolerate a swinging one. Cycling between damp and dry expands and contracts materials and is what causes warping, cracking and lifting.
Mount with inert materials.Acid-free board, polyester or polypropylene, stainless or brass fittings, and no PVC anywhere. Cheap foam, cardboard and adhesive tapes all release acids or plasticisers that mark whatever they touch over years.
Support objects properly.A stand that takes the weight where the object is strong, not where it is delicate. Books stored upright and not too tightly packed. Textiles laid flat or supported, never hung by one point. Poor support causes slow permanent distortion.
Rotate anything light sensitive.Paper, photographs, textiles, comics and anything with dyes. Display for a period, then rest it in dark storage and put something else out. This is exactly what museums do and it is the only way to have both display and preservation.
Dust gently and rarely.A soft brush, a blower, or a microfibre cloth on robust items only. Never a damp cloth on anything absorbent, never a spray polish, never compressed air at close range on something fragile.
Keep the valuable and the fragile out of reach.Not at head height on an open shelf, not where a door swings, not on top of a speaker or a radiator. Most catastrophic damage to a displayed collection is a single physical accident, not slow deterioration.
Record what you have and tell your insurer.Photographs, a list and any receipts. Household contents policies cap individual items and often treat a collection as a single item. Once it is worth something, it needs to be specified.

Tips

UV-filtering glass or acrylic in a frame or cabinet cuts the most damaging part of the spectrum. It does not stop visible light fading, so it reduces the problem rather than solving it.
Display a copy or a print of the most valuable or most fragile item and keep the original stored. Nobody looking at the shelf can tell, and the original stops ageing.
Silica gel in a sealed case controls humidity, but it must be conditioned and recharged periodically or it does nothing. An unmonitored sachet in a case is decoration.

Common mistakes

Displaying in a sunny window because that is where it looks best — It is the fastest way to fade a collection. Colours go within a season in a south-facing window, and fading is completely irreversible.
Using a loft or a garage for the overflow — Both cycle widely in temperature and humidity, which is worse for most materials than a consistently imperfect indoor environment. Under a bed in a heated room beats a loft for almost everything.
Mounting with ordinary tape, foam or cardboard — They release acids and adhesives that migrate into whatever they touch, leaving brown staining and lifted surfaces that appear after a few years and cannot be removed.
Cleaning displayed items regularly — Repeated cleaning is itself abrasion, and it is why a dust-excluding case protects better than diligence does. Keep the dust out rather than removing it often.

If it doesn't work

Items on one side of the shelf have faded

Cause: Light from a window or a lamp falling unevenly — Fix: Move the display away from the light source and rotate items. Faded material cannot be restored.

Condensation inside a display case

Cause: Case against a cold external wall, or moisture sealed in — Fix: Move the case to an interior wall, allow some air movement, and let a sealed case acclimatise before closing it.

Brown staining where something touched a mount

Cause: Acid migration from cardboard, tape or foam — Fix: Replace all mounting materials with acid-free equivalents. The staining is permanent.

Objects are dusty however often you clean

Cause: Open shelving in a normal room — Fix: A case with a door. It reduces both the dust and the handling damage that cleaning causes.

A shelf has bowed

Cause: Weight, over time — collections are heavier than they look — Fix: Support the shelf centrally or reduce the load. Books and boxed collections are among the heaviest things people put on domestic shelving.

Questions people ask

Is LED lighting safe for a display?

LEDs emit little ultraviolet, which helps, but visible light still fades material and LEDs can be very bright. Keep the level low, keep it off the objects where possible, and put it on a switch rather than leaving it on.

How do I display something that must not be touched?

A closed case, or a mount that supports it out of reach. If people will handle it regardless, display a replica. The most reliable protection is that the original is somewhere else.

Does a collection need insuring separately?

Once it is worth a meaningful amount, yes. Standard contents cover has single-item limits and often will not treat a collection as multiple items. Tell the insurer what you have, with a list and photographs.