I use styrofoam heads to display my masks on, I was recently told that styrofoam accelerates latex deterioration. Is any of this remotely true?
Well, i had a mask for years with no issues… and shortly after i put it on the styrofoam head the mask melted then got rock hard. So even tho i cant say with 100% certanty, i think thats what ruined it. Im keeping my new ones stuffed with bags and on a wooden stand.
Styrofoam will definitely screw up vinyl but shouldnt mess with latex. I dont really use styro heads though, just mask stands and plastic sacks. I always like to check my masks pretty often to make sure nothing is going on and make sure there is a little baby powder in there as well
Wouldn’t surprise me if this was true. You could always just wrap the foam head in a plastic bag.
I don’t use Styrofoam for display, I only use it for conversion or overhaul work and even then I wrap those in bags. Putting a mask on those heads are a bitch anyway.
I put a black beanie on the head. It blackens they eyes and the latex is on the beanie… 
…benn7
I hear this so much. People just say that becuase the hero was on a foam head and they saw the condition it was in. Its not true.
Well what caused my mask to melt then harden all within 2 weeks of putting it on the head ? No wear and tare for the 19 yrs before that while it was just stuffed with bags… im curious … anyone else ever have this problem. (I still have the mask)
Idk there man. 
My 1983 was on a head for years in the closet and its rotted beyond repair 
If you say it didnt happen till you placed it there… 
Heard the horror stories. I’d never use one. It’d always be in the back of my mind that some BS could happen to the masks. I use whine and liquor bottles. I get them for FREE from the neighborhood pizza parlor. I have boxes of bottles in the garage. 
A while back, I sort of changed the way I display masks. Due to having so many masks, I need to use economical methods. I start with a roll of paper towels that is about 2/3 full. I put the roll in a plastic grocery bag and sort of close the bag over the top of the roll. Then I fill another grocery bag with paper towels and put this on the top of the roll of paper towels. This acts like a cushion and fills up the cranium. Then I just lower the mask down onto the roll or hold the mask upside down and insert the roll. The import thing is that no paper product is touching any part of the latex.
As far as your mask, I have never heard of such a thing happening so fast. I imagine that just by moving it after it being in the same position for so many years, could make the mask susceptible to cracking which might lead to accelerated deterioration. Can you post before and after pictures of your mask?
Rob
I have No before pictures, but there are pics of the 1985 Don Post on here. (Mine is just now starting to yellow after 30 yrs) i can take a few of how it looks now and post them…
ok, so i uploaded 4 different picks of my Ruined 1986 dp myers mask… i started a new thread for it, its under the General Discussion Forum titled My RUINED 1986 DP Myers Mask… check it out. since the disaster, i took out the styro head (which i should have left, maybe it would have kept its form a little better) and stuffed it with newspaper (i know i know, Now)
_I can’t say either way with certainty but I am guessing it depends on the mask itself and from what latex quality (and/or additives) the mask is made from. All latex masks are not created equal.
I DO have a really good way to “be safe” and also get a very cool effect from your Styrofoam head/mask displays however.
If you buy some black sheer panty hose, you can add one (or two for a darker effect) of the leggings over the Styrofoam head itself. This not only protects the mask from the Styrofoam (again, this is for just being safe…I don’t know if the heads even harm the masks) but it also down plays the white of the Styrofoam and gives the illusion of a shadow coming from the eye area of the mask! Being ultra thin, the panty hose also refrains from causing any distortion in the shape of the mask, particularly important with a thin pull.
_
Thanks for bashing me on your 86 post MichaelMyers79 
just joking around. Were all entitled to our opinion. I’m just guessing it did that because it was not use to being stretched rather then stuffed with bags. I have seen masks stuffed then worn and something happens…with it…because of it not being used to that kinda of stretching and or stuff-ness. Maybe its true…either way I put my masks on my styrofoam head. Although I might buy some pant hose Benny suggested for the heads .
Lol. No bashing intended, just “quoting” u 
But seriously, it wasnt stretched. Its the opposit. The bags filled it more than the head did. It was a smaller styrofoam piece, not a normal size head… So it wasnt ever stretched. Im just guessing it was the material used and the conditions of temp change over the yrs. I do live in new york so we have negative winters and 98 degree summers. I will just get nice custom stands made for my new collection. I dont wanna ruin my Creep… Fk that… Lol
The latex DP used was cheap…I owned a 90’s The Mask same one you have…(MADE IN CHINA STAMP ON BACK) The eyebrows were BADLY rotted. Latex…Weather also (Temp)…can all effect it IMO…The head maybe did something if it was used previously.
Thanks for the valuable info, I am definitely investing in a few pair of sheer panty hose to put over my styrofoam heads. Not taking any chances here 
Same here. I was considering switching all my stands over to styrofoam heads at some point, but now I think I’ll stick with plastic bags stuffed with paper towels.
I have all my masks on styrofoam heads and cut rectangular black fabric and pinned over the eyes then slid the masks on. I may put a bag over the styrofoam then re-pin the fabric over the bag.
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