Do you keep your ukuleles in their cases or display them?

I didn't realise that ukulele playing was a hobby that required that kind of home improvement :-\
In Denmark very few homes have any kind of air conditioning, and mine is no exception. I never saw a humidifier in any danish home. I saw a de-humidifier in a basement once.
I hope that means humidity is not an issue here.

In my current small appartment the ukes are stashed on top of my closet, in the soft cases I got them in. I was hoping to display them on the wall when we move to a house with more space. Rigth now I only have a couple of cheap laminates, so I am not that concerned about them, but I consider buying an expensive one with a hard case at some point. Will be a pity to keep the pearl of the collection bagged up as the only one.

UkingViking said:

I didn't realise that ukulele playing was a hobby that required that kind of home improvement :-\

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I don't think it does, unless you live in a place with climatically rough conditions such as extreme temperature and humidity changes, or prolonged periods of extreme dryness (of the air). This doesn't apply to most of Europe.

Like in Denmark, here in Germany private homes don't typically have humidifiers or even air conditioning, just normal heating in the winters and open windows in the summer. I bought a hygrometer (€10) and have been watching my living room's humidity throughout the year. and the humidity is nearly always between 40% and 60%, which is excellent for both humans and ukuleles. If you store your ukuleles in an uninhabited room without plants and windows, it be pretty dry, and not the best of places for long term storing of wooden instruments, but rooms where people hang out, other than the bathroom, should be perfectly fine.

There is no harm in getting a small humidifier and stick it in the case, though. They cost a few euros only, so even for cheapish ukuleles made of solid wood it's a good investment. But I don't believe it's necessary in our region, just something for one's peace of mind. I had a solid soprano that I never put in a case, and it was fine for years - until I sat down on it. So personally, I put my ukuleles into their cases not because of humidity-related reasons, but to reduce the chance of them getting damaged by my clumsiness and carelessness.

I display mine in a humidified cabinet I built, easy to get to so I find I practice more.

[URL=http://s1291.photobucket.com/user/CHRISALLTECH/media/ukecab_zps8bqtias6.jpg.html][/URL]

Nice cabinet........... but only one uke?!

My Blackbird Clara stays out on a stand within arm's reach. The others (all solid wood) reside in cases in a room closet with an humidistat-controlled air-o-swiss room humidifier. I leave a stretto hygrometer in the closet to verify and occasionally tweak the humidifier's settings.

I own some nice ukes. A couple of winters ago one started to separate between the back's book-matched sides, which led me to adopt this setup.

Humidity, too much or too little is only one of the problems with exposure. Direct sunlight, dust, cooking grease, smoke or being kept against an outside wall can also damage an instrument, including laminates. Mine are kept in a glass front china closet, (see my page 2 post for reference), with stable humidity. This eliminates the environmental problems, not counting sunlight. The wall that the cabinet is on is North facing and does not receive direct sunlight. The windows in the room are UV treated and there are curtains on them as well.

UkingViking said:

I didn't realise that ukulele playing was a hobby that required that kind of home improvement :-\

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I think it can be taken to an extreme, but some people enjoy taking things to the extreme. So if that is the case, go for it. I keep an eye on the humidity, and if I notice that it is getting low, I stick the Oasis in. Most of the time it isn't an issue.

I had this beautiful cabinet custom made for my collection. It has an active humidity system--just set the humidity level desired. The instruments are protected, but within easy reach.

Stored in cases, on a stand that I made for them.
Cheers,
R

sukie said:

In a case or humidified plastic bin. But I do it for protection as well as humidity.

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Smart thinking! I was trying to think of what I could do to keep my ukes in a good environment without humidifying the whole room all the time. I didn't think my Fluke would need humidity and now it has a couple of tiny hairlines on the sound board...although maybe they're just in the finish (?). Luckily it still sounds good. Thanks for the idea!

The OP- Mine are always in their cases...sometimes humidified. (ugh, I'm a bad UkeParent).