Despite fragile appearances, film, such as negatives and home movies, can be stored for quite a while under the right conditions. The most important thing to keep in mind when storing important film or negatives is that they are adversely affected by sunlight, heat, moisture, dust and fingerprints. You often may not notice any damage at first, but a long-term exposure to these elements can be severely damaging to your films. Storing them in a dark, dry, cool location is your best bet for the longest life out of your film.

Organization is a very helpful thing to do prior to storing your film or negatives. Instead of fumbling around looking for a particular image, you’ll be able to pinpoint it in seconds. There are actually a few ways to go about this, such as grouping, or separating them out but most people organize them chronologically by using negative sleeves as pictured below.

If you have a collection of negatives you’re looking to store, you’ll also want to ensure that they are protected from dust, dirt, and potential fingerprints. It’s best to use the plastic sleeves that are given when they are first processed, however, if you don’t have these sleeves, you can use airtight ziplock bags instead. For old home movie film such as 8mm, 16mm, or super 8, it’s best to store them on plastic film reels and in plastic canisters (metal reels and canisters can leave rust and other deposits on your film) away from heat, sunlight, or humidity.

If you have personally valuable or historically important film or negatives, it’s best to scan, convert or duplicate them, in case something were to happen as there is no way to replace the original once lost!