Home Remedy: If you have those silicon pellets you find in boxes with new shoes drop those into your seed-saving boxes to absorb extra moisture. I agree with the above. I personally have trouble opening those tiny plastic bags to I prefer paper...but it depends on so many factors. Heidi

One important factor is, how dry is the seed at time of storage?

Plastic would be an absolute no-no for storing anything but the driest of seed. The good thing about paper is that (unless it is thick) it is a very drying thing.

"The good thing about paper is that (unless it is thick) it is a very drying thing."

True, if the seed is wet... but as I noted above, it will also allow moisture back in, if the ambient humidity increases. Even properly dried seed will deteriorate if exposed to periods of high humidity.

One other advantage of air-tight containers (such as glass or plastic) vs. permeable containers (such as paper envelopes) is the exclusion of oxygen. Seeds are living, and although their respiration is very slow, they will consume oxygen. Studies have shown that reducing oxygen exposure can increase seed longevity, sometimes substantially... even for room temperature storage.

I can vouch for the effectiveness of that practice personally. I pack the seeds tightly into bags, then squeeze out as much air as possible before sealing them. For larger quantities of seed (such as a pound of beans) the seeds will use up the oxygen, and the bag will appear to have been vacuum sealed. Last summer, I grew out a bean from seed saved in 2007, and had close to 90% germination.

Looks like PLAnt spaM.

Over on Amazon they have some expensive Mylar bags with absorbents, whatever that means. I have no idea what they are for. Could they be of any use for storing seed?

ETA ... nm ... I cannot find them again. Someone on the cooking forum had linked to them .

ETA ... I noticed some vanilla wafers are now packaged in a Mylar-like bag inside the store shelf box. Are vanilla wafers sensitive to atmospheric moisture?

plastic bags are good for it

I think that paper envelopes are better because they can absorb extra moisture and excess, making your seeds a perfect structure. Moreover, it is more eco than using plastic bags. I’ve got no plastic bags in my house, and I don’t let my children buy them at the supermarket. We have a cloth shopper for products and disposable paper Stand up pouches to pack all the things we used to pack into the plastic bags. I think it is much better for our nature, and if everybody did the same, we would have the best ecology.

Not sure what "making your seeds a perfect structure" means?

Agreed that paper envelopes allow any extra moisture in the seeds to escape. Unfortunately, as I pointed out above, they also allow moisture back in, if the ambient humidity increases. So in areas where the indoor humidity fluctuates during the year, seeds enclosed in paper only will have a lower shelf life than seeds stored in air-tight containers. The paper envelopes can be stored in a larger air-tight container. For those with an aversion to plastic, canning jars are a good alternative... however, I should point out that plastic freezer bags are tough, and can be re-used many times.

I use wraps from glossy paper. I don't much like fiddly plastic bags and brown paper envelopes are only good to the first opening - they collapse fairly easily. I simply cut a 6inch square piece of paper and fold it corner to corner a couple of times and tuck in the ends. I stick a label on because it is not easy to write on printed paper. Never worried about printing inks. I store everything in various biscuit tins in the cold pantry.