I own a few old books and I won't be able to have them displayed for a few years. How am I supposed to store them in order to make sure they stay in flawless condition over a couple of years? I am not a hardcore bibliophile and I do not have the knowledge on how to best preserve books, just video games. Does wrapping them in transparent plastic foil (like games) help or will it accelerate the deterioration process like a greenhouse? Wrapping them in brown packing paper - good or bad? The books I'm talking about do not have leather spines, usually cloth or cardboard. They are around 70-100 years old and generally in quite good condition (not much previous exposure to much humidity/dirt etc).
You can't just use any paper, it needs to be acid-free or it'll make the pages yellow (though they are probably already pretty yellow with that many years on the clock). I'd try to get them in to some kind of vacuum-seal bag, to keep out air, so that mould and mildew can't grow. That said, I have a copy of the Radio Engineer's Handbook from around 1930ish, and it's just been in a plastic shopping bag since 2008, still seems fine.
The same as comic books, and preferably upright, although you'd be better off getting (or making) a bookshelf of some sort. Yes, paper and bags need to be acid free, but you also need to change them regularly to allow the books to breathe a bit and ensure the materials don't deteriorate. You need to keep them in ideal conditions (certain temperature and humidity range, and not fluctuating). Putting them in outdoor storage (e.g. a shed, garage or storage container) is a fast way to kill them. Comic boxes would be OK.
If it's not acid free paper it will yellow and powder in 80-100 years. I think you should invest either sending them in for ph correction if valuable or just keep them in oxygen free (or lessened) to reduce oxidation.
