Dear Forum,

Hi, well, I have a weird cel related question
concerning those cool plastic Japanese boxes that
are sometimes used to ship cels (those flat
hinged plastic boxes with 2 clasps that you can
find at Japanese stationery stores).  I was
wondering.  Does ANYONE know if these boxes are
archival safe =/?  I've been wondering about that
ever since my recent shopping trips to Office Max
for archival safe 3 ring binders (Yeah, that was
'REALLY' fun --;!).

I've heard from someone already who thinks that
they might be archival safe since they are made of
hard plastic instead of the softer plastic which
usually involves chemicals that make it non-
archival safe.  However, I'm still not sure if
those boxes are archival safe or not =/.  I've
tried the old sniff test, and so far, they don't
smell of PVC (that funny plastic smell you can
whiff at your local Office Max, Office Depot,
Staples, or Toys 'R' Us), but that doesn't
necessarily mean that they are archival safe.
Most of the time, if something is archival safe,
they say they are archival safe (with maybe added
words such as PVC free, acid free, and lichten
free (whatever lichten is)).  My sister says that
acid is also part of the plastic making process,
so something that is PVC free might not be acid
free o_O.

Yeah, archival safe stuff is confusing O~O!  So,
does anyone out there know if those flat plastic
hinged boxes say if they are archival safe or not
on that paper label inside, or does the company
itself say they are archival safe?  ANY help would
be appreciated =}.  I'm thinking of storing some
cels in them temporarily until I get more cel
books, so I would like to know.  Thanks.


Sincerely,

Sonia

P.S. If anyone can tell me what lichten is, that
would also be appreciated O~O (and why it is one
of the things you should NOT have in archival safe
products).