Want to store 1,000+ 4 x 6" photos, looking for Rubbermaid-like solution

February 8, 2021 6:28 PM

I have probably 1,000–2,000 4x6 photos that I want to go through, and sort by date/location. I would like to use a few Rubbermaid-like storage containers that not only would be the right size (a little over 6 inches wide, and then maybe 12–18" long), but that would also provide some protection from elements when stored.

The boxes don't need to be waterproof like a Pelican camera case, but hopefully at least somewhat water-resistant or reasonably tightly sealable to keep out general moisture if they had to spend some time in a garage or a basement.

Since moisture is a concern, I am only looking for plastic kinds of boxes—no boxes with any part (other than file cabinet-like photo dividers) made from cardboard or paper.

Does Rubbermaid or some other similar company make such plastic boxes for the storing of 4x6 photos?

I'm hoping for a solution specifically targeted towards this purpose instead of any "...well, these boxes are eight inches wide, but they would probably work...". I feel like if I am going to finally get around to doing this, I want to do it once and do it the right way.

posted by blueberry to Media & Arts (11 answers total)

Simply Tidy's Photo & Craft Keeper at Michaels, found under 'photo storage boxes'
posted by Iris Gambol at 6:34 PM on February 8, 2021 [2 favorites]

Craft stores like Michael’s have photo storage boxes that might fit the bill. They are not cheap. If you search “photo storage boxes” on Google you should find some good results.

One example
posted by kellygrape at 6:36 PM on February 8, 2021

I'm using one of these multi-boxlet cases and I'm about to get a second. The Container Store is cheaper than Michael's if you want to go retail.
posted by rhizome at 6:37 PM on February 8, 2021

If you want less of an individual boxlet solution and use something like an archival photo box, be sure to get dividers.
posted by rhizome at 6:42 PM on February 8, 2021 [1 favorite]

Iris photo cases. You don't mention that they need to be archival, which these are not, but they are water resistant and offer 2 layers of protection and help keep the photos sorted. You can often find them cheaper than that if you shop around, that was just the first one that came up when I googled.
posted by wwax at 7:45 PM on February 8, 2021

Response by poster: I should perhaps specify that what I'm looking for is a long plastic box (with a tight-fitting lid) that accommodates a long single stack of 4x6 photos

—similar to how cards would be stored in an especially long recipe box , or cards in an old library card catalog—

so that I could easily flip through them.

I really want a box that is just one long box holding one line of photos laid on their 6" sides.

I'm not so interested in larger boxes that are made to hold smaller boxes of photos (like the plastic suggestions made so far).

Really, I was hoping that someone might have first-hand experience and could recommend their solution, but maybe my desires are too specific/picky.
posted by blueberry at 8:00 PM on February 8, 2021

I have used these in the past to store ephemera in the short term. However, you need to worry about plastic degrading over the long term and interacting with the photos to destroy them. What you want to look for are polypropylene plastic boxes, and one option made of that type of plastic could be useful to you this Art Bin option. Art Bin has a lot of different options, but the one linked is the closet to what you are thinking of in terms of being able to flip through the pictures.
posted by momochan at 5:49 AM on February 9, 2021 [1 favorite]

It's not plastic, but this postcard holder will give you the size/shape you're looking for. Maybe you can get some large plastic bags for additional water protection?

I think the piece mentioned above is your best bet. You can probably use it without using the internal plastic cases. It will hold 1600 photos with the internal cases, so without those, you can probably get all 2000 photos in there.

The smallest of these would work great. But I can't find it on its own. They're plastic, but not airtight.
posted by hydra77 at 8:47 AM on February 9, 2021 [1 favorite]

I can't find a single longbox-style box, but there are single photoboxes that have plenty of space for what you want. And really, photos are heavy enough that a 1000-sized (or 1700) longbox would probably fail in the middle on about the fourth time it's taken out of the closet (or picked up, or...).
posted by rhizome at 11:15 AM on February 9, 2021

Hmm, I see "tight-fitting lid" now. If that's for preservation concerns, the 2x2 ones above appear to have Library of Congress-level protection, and really, I have to think air is much, much less damaging than light, and breathability might help to mediate problems with temperature swings. There are probably websites that detail these concerns.

That said, if BHPhoto is to be believed, photos are about 100 per inch, they say this 11" deep single-box holds 1100. I'm guessing that would be pretty tight and not so easy to flip through (and as a person with a lot of vinyl records, it can suuuck when they're packed together). The 2x2 box is essentially two 12" deep boxes side-by-side, so they're saying 1700 capacity in what is 24" of space. Sounds much more flippable.

But! After all this, you still want something like RubberMaid, ArtBin makes a couple boxes that are more or less clip-lid plastic versions of the above. I really really dislike the trapezoidal designs that are de rigeur these days, but I think both of these plastic items are indeed >6" inside dimensions at the bottom (scroll down for dimension diagrams).
posted by rhizome at 11:37 AM on February 9, 2021

I'm using these - plastic cases hold 100 photos each and six of the smaller cases fit into a larger case for double protection.
posted by COD at 4:36 PM on February 9, 2021