Waterproof storage ideas

[hobson]

I need a bit of help and advice; i need to store a decent amount of newspapers over winter, outside, but keep them bone dry.

Bear in mind we live in Devon, so it gets wet and humid at times!

Best thing i can think of is to buy some plastic storage boxes and put some of those crystal moisture traps you use in boats and caravans in the box with the paper.

But it'd be nice to make some boxes out of something more organic, and not buy plastic.

Anyone got any good ideas they'd like to share please?!

 

[Dogoak]

To be honest I can't think of anything organic that would be suitable. Rodent's will be your other problem!
All I can suggest is a BDH barrel, like this...............http://www.desperate-measures.co.uk/canoes-online/Invopack_Dry_Barrell.html you can get them in different sizes, as long as it and the papers are dry you shouldn't have a problem.

 

[ged]

I'm not clear on the meaning of bone dry in this context and I'm not clear on the form the newspapers will take, but if they're basically flat folded sheets then you might consider bagging them in relatively small quantites in dustbin liners and storing the bagged packs in a rodent proof box of some kind. Anything from an ammunition box to a metal garden shed, depending on the quantities involved.

Paper that's been kicking around the house for a while will contain several percent moisture, is that what you mean by 'bone dry' or do you need to remove that moisture?

 

[Toddy]

Outdoors is a problem because of rodents. Otherwise just use huge polybags and double them up. Barrels are really good though.
You could bag them and store them in a plastic dustbin, one with a lid.

I suppose it depends on quantity really, and how dry is dry ? Paper, especially newspaper soaks up any moisture like a sponge if given the chance.

Best of luck with it

cheers,
M

 

[hobson]

Thanks for the replies gents, the newspapers are being collected for use in our woodburner through the winter rather than using firelighters, so i need them to be kept as dry as possible really.
I was going to leave them intact and just pull one out at a time as necessary.

as far as quantities, i'm not too sure on that one! basically we live and work on a caravan site and have a separate box next to the bins specifically for people to discard their old newspapers, so far we have a pile about two feet high, so as the year goes on maybe it'll hit three or four feet high, which should be enough for winter.
The box we use has a lid but it's far from airtight, so we take them out every few days and keep them in the shed, but as the air is quite moist, they're absorbing the moisture, so i need a better storage solution.

We have a wood store for the logs so they could possibly be put in there, but i'd rather fill the wood store with logs than boxes of newspaper!

I like the look of those barrels, so thanks for the link! it's a pity i'm too far from Kettering, a guy on Ebay has some for £10!

 

[Toddy]

Could you not maybe get a lidded bin instead of a box, £12 last time I bought one with a lid that has wire clips to keep it on, but leave a roll of binbags with it and if folks bagged and binned the papers as they left them, they'd stay dry for you anyway ?

The barrels are brilliant; I keep sleeping bags in them in the loft and they're sound as a bell

cheers,
M

 

[hobson]

Could you not maybe get a lidded bin instead of a box, £12 last time I bought one with a lid that has wire clips to keep it on, but leave a roll of binbags with it and if folks bagged and binned the papers as they left them, they'd stay dry for you anyway ?

I'd like to think so, but we have recycling bins and it's too much of an effort for most of the visitors to bother separating bottles and plastics! every week we have to go through everything manually to avoid letters from Devon councils bin nazis!

even the box we have says "newspapers ONLY, no glossy magazines" and every week we pull out plenty of 'take a break' and 'chat' mags

 

[Toddy]

Ah Folk can be very oblivious....and that's me being kind about it
Pity though, it would have been a tidy solution.
Oh well, sod's law and back to the drawing board.

cheers,
Toddy

 

[ged]

...Thanks for the replies gents ...

Er...

as far as quantities, i'm not too sure on that one! basically we live and work on a caravan site and have a separate box next to the bins specifically for people to discard their old newspapers, so far we have a pile about two feet high, so as the year goes on maybe it'll hit three or four feet high, which should be enough for winter.

Do you have a cold frame? I'm thinking that amount of newspaper ought to more or less fit in one. For the winter you could move it onto a concrete or other waterproof base facing due south, maybe line the sides and base with some insulation, and use solar heating to dry it out and keep it dry. Or maybe make something with the top from the cold frame but with a steeper incline to catch more of the low winter sun.

If it's just for burning I wouldn't worry a great deal about rodents although they do have a nasty habit of leaving things, er, damp as well as chewed.

 

[hobson]

Er...



Do you have a cold frame? I'm thinking that amount of newspaper ought to more or less fit in one. For the winter you could move it onto a concrete or other waterproof base facing due south, maybe line the sides and base with some insulation, and use solar heating to dry it out and keep it dry. Or maybe make something with the top from the cold frame but with a steeper incline to catch more of the low winter sun.

If it's just for burning I wouldn't worry a great deal about rodents although they do have a nasty habit of leaving things, er, damp as well as chewed.

Apologies for the gender discrimination, I hadn't really looked at who'd replied! i'll be more attentive in future!

I've done a bit of reading about storing newspaper and found an interesting article here: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9800E5DE1E3DF934A35751C0A96E9C8B63

I know this isn't fully relevant as i'm not storing them to read, but it did have some good info on why newspapers degrade so quickly, so it's given me better info than i had on what to be aware of.
I'm going to try a few ideas and see what i come up with, but thanks for the help so far everyone

 

[santaman2000]

Growing up we used to also use newspapers occasionly to start the fire (either in the fireplace or woodburning stove/heater) But we never had to "store" it. We just got a newspaper every day and that one was enough for a couple days fire starting and to line the trash bins.