Thanks for sharing this Linda  great job Michelle!

Ah yes good advice for sending anywhere in Florida.  I live on the opposite coast, near the space center and we have thunderstorms every day, I mean wind whipping lightening striking street flooding thunderstorms.  So definitely, it is a wise idea to wrap any books heading towards the sunshine state in a good layer of saran wrap or some sort of plastic.

We appreciate it emensely.

: D

I live in southern CA where it ALMOST never rains.  But wouldn't you know it - In April when we had a downpour I recieved FOUR books not wrapped in plastic.  Had to throw them in the trash.   Since then I always wrap in plastic no matter where it's going!   Way to go Michelle!!!

We traveled in the rain today too, but from Sanford to Melbourne and back... and of course, we didn't check the mail yet since we were gone all day but I so want to go check it now to see if I got any books, but I think my hubby would think I was crazy if I went out at 10:00pm in the rain to check the mail, hehehe.

Kudos to Michelle!!

Isnt it great to live in Florida during the summer?  My last 4 orders have been from people who live here in the state,  and I always wonder if I wrapped them good enough lol. I wrap them in the plastic bag the newspaper comes in, a tip I got here on PBS, then wrap the outside wrapper completly in tape.

As bad as it is storming every day,  I'd rather have this than a hurricane.

I've been using Glad Press& Seal.  I live in North Texas and we've had such unusual rain patterns this year that I'm hyper aware of the water damage issue.  The Press & Seal is super easy though since it sticks to itself better than regular plastic wrap, and is slightly sticky so it holds the wrapper in place for you too while you tape.

Hi Sharon,      

 PRESS & SEAL IS A NO NO!!!  There has been numerous threads about this subject.  Press & Seal sticks to the book and leaves a residue that ruins the book!!  Please stop using this product.   You can use plain Saran Wrap, a Ziplock type plastic baggie or just cut up grocery bags, but never Press & Seal!!

By the way, welcome to PBS.

June

Junie - I don't use it the way they show on the box - with two sticky-side-together sheets sandwiching a book between.  I can totally see how that would damage a book!   It honestly never occured to me that someone would even think of doing that since it's so obviously wrong, otherwise I would have clarified how I use it!

I just use a single sheet - sticky side OUT - so it never touches the book.  It makes a very neat package that way, and is more secure than the first few I used traditional Saran Wrap on.

So, on a slightly different tangent -- Linda, your mailbox is big enough to hold FOUR books?  Do tell!

Yes, Majorie, I was thinking that as I was reading the succeeding posts.

If I get more than 3 books, my mail carriers toss them all on the porch in front of my door, where snow, rain, or ice is free to do a tapdance on any book not wrapped in plastic. Sometimes they put them in a bag, sometimes not.

A mailbox big enough to hold 4 books..... I am so envious.

Sharon, thanks for explaining how you use Press & Seal and you do know about the potential damage it can do to a book.  A lot of new members do not know about that.  I never even thought to use the other side of P&S, but I'm happy with Ziplock baggies.  

Hope you weren't offended....not my intention. 

 Happy PBSing......    :) June

I plastic-wrap every book I send out (well, put it in a 'food and bread bag' -- like a ziploc without the zip; they come with twist-ties in the box), but only very rarely receive a book that's been waterproofed in any way.

All I can say is these people must live in the desert. Not only can things get dropped in puddles in transit, my mailbox refuses to close all the way when  you put anything bigger than a letter in it (like, say, a magazine?). We're working on a way to modify our front fence so we can put up one of those enormous arch-top rural route boxes in and still have the carrier be able to load it -- the kind you can put two cats in, if they're good friends and tolerant? -- but until we're up for cutting bars out of our iron front fence there's no way to get anything bigger.

I live in northwest Florida, and, this time of the year, we get a thunderstorm almost every afternoon whether it's Dog Days or not.  So I really appreciate books wrapped in plastic although I rarely ever receive any that have been waterproofed in plastic. 

ALL my books I send to other members, no matter WHERE they are located, are wrapped in plastic.  I use either Saran wrap or recycle the plastic bag my daily newspaper arrives in.

Jan

EVERYTHING I send is wrapped in plastic, no matter to where, and what time of year.  The only exception is when I use a bubble envelope, as that is plastic lined.  A great source for plastic for wrapping is those air-filled bags that come with mail or internet orders, like from Amazon.  They are great!

I can fit around 6 books in my mailbox...jealous? ;)

I never thought about it when I first joined PBS but outside of the first book, all of mine are wrapped in plastic wrap before the mailer.  figure better safe than sorry!

Is it really so difficult to just plastic-wrap everything? It takes, what, fifteen more seconds of wrapping time, and can make all the difference between an unrepostable book (or even a useless moldy mass) and a book in great condition? Not all postal moisture comes from rain.