If you have films with vinegar syndrome, they have to be stored open air. If they are stored open air, they generally stabilize more or less. And if you want to be sure about halting vinegar syndrome, you vacuum seal the film and freeze them.

Nothing cures vinegar syndrome, but you can slow it down or halt it. These films shown have been stored open air for a few years. The previous owner stored them sealed in metal cans in a hot storage unit in L.A. for many years. Once they were aired out, they have not visually deteriorated further since they were stored open air. Most of the vinegar smell is gone; but if they are returned to film cans, especially non vented, the vinegar syndrome will start back up. Vinegar syndrome is caused by a lack of ventilation and heat.

It is best to air out films on wire racks so they can breathe on both sides. Or you can stack them with a film core between the reels. The films shown are just a small fraction of the hot L.A. storage unit film collection I acquired, and I don't have room for that. But they have done OK being aired out as shown. You can flip them every year or so, but these have been sitting as shown for years. If you have your films in cans and they are acetate...you have to burp them once in a while to de-gas.

When I first got this collection, you could smell the vinegar from across the room. Now the vinegar is 'almost' undetectable with the nose. Other reels still have a noticeable smell, but they have decreased with the vinegar odor maybe 85%. If your films are warped or start to develop flats you can reverse wind them. None of the chemicals being marketed to handle vinegar syndrome have done any good from what I can tell, and I've tested most of them, if not all of them, over an 8 year period.

You can get PH / A-D strips to see where your films fit in with the vinegar syndrome. I don't use them. I'm not that anal or scientific. Film is just one small area I work in. Not enough time, money or space for everything. Plus, the A-D strips need to be enclosed in the can with the film to work right. These films will never be returned to a can, so the A-D strips are not of much use to me. But if you are of an anal nature, strip your films and chart them! I just use my nose. A-D strips are good to tell you when the vinegar syndrome is starting.

Air circulation is very important. I have a collection of 16mm family films from the 1920s and 1930s that had been stored in tight metal cans for most of the last century. When I first opened them up they stank of vinegar, but after a thorough airing-out they've been stored in ventilated film containers from Urbanski and the smell has not returned.

there are many ways to deal with Vinegar.

the problem is that once acetate starts to break down, the Acetic Acid released is a Catalyst towards breaking down more of the acetate! The process also is made Worse by high heat. the Sieve will absorb both acetic Acid and Mossture, but has to be used in aclosed COntainer.

Rusty metal is also a catalyst, which is why Kodak switched to Plastic Coated Movie film Cans. Good quality Plastic Cans (made of PS for example) are superior for storage compared to metal.