I just recently moved into a place where I am only able to store all my Myers mask and other latex masks wrapped up in boxes in a shop/garage.
It being winter time the temperatures inside the shop are ranging from anywhere around 30-50 degrees depending on the time of day and how cold it is outside. I noticed inside the shop it is always just a few degrees above the outside temperature which isn’t a whole lot.
My question is will the colder temperatures damage or bother any of my latex masks in anyway? I’ve got at least 10 all wrapped up in cardboard boxes all worth money of course and don’t want any harm done to them. Now I know really hot temperatures aren’t good for latex masks but that’s not an issue this time of year. I just have never heard if colder temperatures will harm latex masks so any advice would be much appreciated!
-Thanks, Kyle
To my understanding, its the hot temperatures the ruin latex. I’m certain colder temps would not damage latex. I could wrong man, but I’m pretty certain I’m correct.
Ok buddy I appreciate the input! We will see what everyone else thinks as well.
In cold temperatures the paint will crack in my experience. If it’s getting down to 30 degrees, I personally wouldn’t leave it somewhere that cold. This was just my experience with one mask, so your masks could be fine.
Update: I moved them to another storage room with about a 10 degree higher temperature. They should be just fine now.
-Thanks everyone, Kyle
All materials expand and contract due to temperature fluctuation. So when it gets really cold the latex is going to contract “shrink” causing the paint to crack and eventually peel and flake off. You need to store them in temperatures ranging from 50 to 75 all year long to prevent this from happening. No other way around it.
I used to keep my masks in a case against an outer wall. But due to the wall heating up in the summer and getting cold in the winter, I moved the masks to an inner way out of fear of the expand/contrast thing ruining the latex.
Should be ok. colder weather slows latex rot.
Fill the bins/boxes with some sort of polyester or cotton fiber and it should help in both the heat and cold (due to how the fabrics “breathe”).