The Best Christmas Ornament Storage

Careful Christmas ornament storage will keep your lovely decorations unmarred for next year and decades to follow.  Antique glass ornaments are remarkably fragile.  It’s amazing that some have survived at all!  Today’s ornaments, especially those made of tempered glass, are stronger -- but they are still vulnerable to breakage.  Proper storage and handling will preserve these lovely ornaments for future generations to enjoy.

Handling Glass Ornaments
Glass decorations must be handled carefully and with caution.  When they are taken out of storage, work over a soft surface as you remove their wrappings.  Use a thick tree skirt, or even a layer of sheepskins, to soften the impact in case a glass ball falls from the tree.

An old-fashioned Christmas tree fence is useful to keep toddlers and animals away from the decorations.  If you don’t have a fence, hang the fragile handmade balls high on the tree, and place less breakable spheres on the lower branches.  Spraying beneath the tree with a pet repellent is also helpful.

If your ornaments are on display for more than two weeks, place them away from windows.  Direct sunlight can cause the paint to fade.

Cleaning
The paints used on antique ornaments were generally favorite family recipes.  These were likely to fade.  Age has made them even more fragile.  They should not be washed, because most old paints are water-soluble.  Avoid glass cleaners and other chemical solutions as well.  Many modern lacquers are water-based as well and will endure longer if identical precautions are observed.

Gently dust glass tree decorations with a feather duster to clean them.  Ostrich-feather dusters are especially useful.

Storage
Strong boxes with attached lids are the best choice for Christmas ornament storage.  Many manufacturers produce plastic or cardboard containers.  Some are specifically designed to store ornaments and have appropriately-sized internal sections.  Plastic boxes are stronger than cardboard ones, but the totally air-tight environment they provide is not necessarily suitable for valuable or antique ornaments.  Special acid-free cardboard boxes are good for these treasures.

Every piece should be separately wrapped before being placed in a Christmas ornament storage box.  Use acid-free tissue paper, or acid-free paper towels (the kind sold as microwavable).  Newspaper is not a good choice; the chemicals in both the ink and the paper itself can damage the paint on the decoration.

Put bubble wrap or gently wadded paper towels in the bottom of the Christmas ornament storage container before you put any wrapped ornaments inside.  If the container does not have sections, use extra tissue between ornaments to give more cushioning.  Add a last layer over the decorations before fastening the lid.

Add some silica gel desiccant in every box to remove moisture.  You can purchase it at craft stores.

For more safety, store big glass decorations separately from small ones, and glass ornaments apart from metal or wooden ones.  Mark all your Christmas ornament storage boxes clearly, so that you don’t need to unpack the lot if you want an individual ornament later in the year.

Even with all this protection, ornaments can still be injured by extreme temperatures and/or humidity levels.  These elements can create stress fractures eventually.  Unheated attics and cellars are not good locations for Christmas ornament storage.  Keep your decorations in a closet instead.

All you need is a little time and a little thought to make your decorations undamaged.  Proper Christmas ornament storage isn’t difficult, and it will preserve these fragile treasures for generations.