Temperature and PLA: What Actually Matters
PLA (the material Labubu Studio editions are made from) has a glass transition temperature around 60°C (140°F) — meaning it softens at temperatures you'd never encounter indoors. Cold is even less of a concern. PLA doesn't become brittle in normal winter temperatures. Your figures are fine in any room you'd be comfortable living in.
The risk comes from uncontrolled environments: attics, garages, storage units, and cars. A car trunk in January can drop below freezing at night and warm up during the day, and these rapid temperature cycles are what cause issues — not the cold itself. Repeated expansion and contraction can stress joints and adhesive points.
Rule of thumb: if you wouldn't store a book there, don't store a figure there. Room temperature, stable conditions. That's it.
Humidity Control During Heating Season
Central heating drops indoor humidity significantly — often to 20-30% in winter, down from 40-60% in summer. Low humidity doesn't directly damage PLA, but it creates static that attracts dust faster, meaning your figures get dirtier more quickly in winter.
If you run a humidifier in your home (recommended for health reasons anyway), your figure display benefits incidentally. Aim for 35-50% relative humidity. This reduces static dust accumulation and keeps the environment stable.
Avoid placing figures directly above heating vents or radiators. The rising warm air creates a convection current that deposits dust on anything in its path. A shelf six feet above a floor vent collects dust three times faster than one across the room.
Storage During Winter Moves and Renovations
Winter moves are common (lease cycles, holiday relocations, renovation projects). If your figures need to go into boxes, wrap each one individually in a soft cloth or acid-free tissue paper. Avoid newspaper — the ink can transfer, especially in humid conditions.
Pack figures upright in a box with crumpled paper filling gaps so nothing shifts during transport. PLA Studio editions are durable, but any figure can chip if it's rattling around in a loose box on a bumpy truck ride in January.
If figures are going into temporary storage (weeks or months), use a climate-controlled storage unit. An unheated garage or basement in a cold climate will subject them to freeze-thaw cycles and potential condensation. Spending a few extra dollars on climate control is cheaper than replacing a damaged figure.
Condensation Prevention
Condensation is winter's sneaky damage vector. When cold air meets a warm surface (or vice versa), moisture forms. This happens most often when you bring a cold figure inside from outdoor storage or a cold car. The figure surface is cold; the indoor air is warm and relatively humid; water droplets form.
If you've transported figures in cold conditions, let them acclimate to room temperature gradually. Leave them in their packaging in the room for an hour before unwrapping. This lets the figure warm up slowly, reducing condensation risk.
For figures on display near windows, check for condensation on cold mornings. Single-pane windows in older homes can create a cold zone on nearby shelves. If you find moisture on your figures, move them away from the window or improve the window's insulation.