During the Christmas week, as we didn't find any films for ourselves i bought 8 plastic cecolite reels and cans.
Everyone has there own ideas on this and my mind, (with help of a long term collector friend) is now made up that decent quality plastic reels and cans are the way for us to store our 16mm films on. The card boxes, while strong, do seem to hold dust and also moisture. I like the metal reels and cans, but find that my own film room can get quite cold and this must make some condensation form i would have thought. I have never found any condensation but those reels get very cold which in turn, (i'm guessing), could help mould to take grip.
The new reels and cans all had a good clean in the kitchen sink with a warm soapy solution, thouroughly dried, left to the air for 48 hours, then a buff up with furniture polish, left open for another 48 hours, (no pun intended), before placing films previously in card boxes in them.

What's your views on this please, especially the chaps who have worked in the film/projection industry?

Around every four months i take all my films from there storage shelves to wipe over the boxes with a dry cotton cloth, i clean the shelves as well and this does seem to keep everything fresh. I am often surprised when i obtain a second hand film how often they smell of either mould or damp, obviously many havnt been put through a projector in years, or they have been stored in outside sheds or garages.

I quite agree that storage for 16mm in plastic spools/cans is the best way to go. Having worked all my life in cinemas, the use of plastic cans (film on cores) was quite universal for many years.

I do prefer plastic cans too, but I haven't bought plastic cans when I have gotten films in other types of cans. DanCan is my favorite.

Tom,

Although many collectors still use metal cans for 16mm, I won't. I will either use plastic, or cardboard box. In the past, I have had some of the metal cans that are so tightly sealed I needed to use a small pry bar to open them. Virtually all the films with a VS smell were in metal cans and for that reason I avoid them entirely--other than for use as a shipping container (which is then placed in a box) for any films I sell off. For Super 8, many more of my films are in card boxes--the rest in plastic.

I prefer the plastic archival storage cans--with small air holes for 16mm. These stack up nicely. The downside of these is they are quite expensive. Although maybe a dozen or so 16mm films are stored in the open, it is only because I am out of cans. I do notice dust on these which is bothersome to me.

For 16mm reels, I have heard that metal ones--especially if not "true" can cause excessive wear to the edges of the film. Right now, I would say it is 50/50 metal and plastic reels for me. If the reel is in any way rusty or flawed it gets tossed out. My question is how best to store empty 16mm reels to keep them "true".....as it annoys me to use a wobbly reel, or one that pinches the film which causes an unsteady picture-- and it seems I have too many of these.

It would be interesting to know what the archives use. For theater projection it seems the films are generally used and shipped on--as opposed to longer term storage as in an archive. I think I have heard that some store their films on cores and then in cans. With a split reel, these core mounted films can still be spooled up fairly quickly....

Does anyone here store their films on cores?

Most ventilated archival cans are not designed to accommodate a film on a spool, only on a core, this is to give total air cover. I only store one film in such cans and on cores. This is a 16mm feature (You Were Meant For Me - 1948) that has slight VS and I hope the ventilation may give it a slightly longer life. It's kept away from all my other films, in fact, in a room by itself.

Thanks to all for your replies on this,
Here's a stupid question, would drilling three or four very small holes in the side of plastic cans be an advantage for air circulation?
VS is the one thing i always worry about, we do only have a handful of b/w films but all seem OK.
Greg, regarding keeping loose reels true, one of the things we do here is to simply use a nail/pin in the wall and literally pop the reel onto this so it's on the wall. I dont know if there is such things as spacers to put inside the spoll to keep it the correct width, there use to be some 8mm reels which had little plastic pegs that fitted between flanges all the way around and these were perfect for keeping the reels true.

Hi Maurice,

Yes, I have heard that some archive cans only handle cored films, and I forget which brands are of that type.

The archival plastic cans I use are from Urbanski Films. These are the grey ones, and have small raised ridges on the bottom half of the can to facilitate air flow under the film and through the vent holes (at 12:00 and 6:00 in the pic below) . I am able to store my films on reels using these. I try not to stack these more than 8-10 reels high as the weight accumulates and I do not want any excess pressure on the poor fellow on the bottom.....

I use a label maker to put title, number of reels, and film stock type (color coded) on each can.....here are some pics showing a bit...

Tom,

I think the small holes drilled along the bottom edge of the sidewall of the plastic can would be helpful. And I wholeheartedly agree with Maurice on the VS segregation.
I have a couple with a vinegar smell, and those are stored in a completely different room. I would not want VS to be distributed via the vent holes to other films.

The cans I use are marked "STIL Casing Solution", bought from a UK company called pel. They are grey and have ribs on the bottom of the lower can and ribs under the top can, these together with side slits ensure a good flow of air all around the film. They will accommodate a film on a spool, but the lid will not fit down correctly, allowing the lids to possible compress the spool, not a good idea. Their ad states that they are for films stored on cores only.
https://www.preservationequipment.com/Ca...-Film/Film-Cans

I prefer plastic reels. Less rust in the long run. Most of my prints are on the original steel reels but they are easy to bend and like I said, rust. Hate that scratching sound. Storage, I usually store films out of cans or boxes. I store films openly (16mm) on a metal shop rack upright and the cans seperatly. That way the films can breath. Small films, 8mm super8mm, I just store in the original cardboard boxes. I seem to have less of an issue with vinigar or warping with small films than I do with 16mm.