Preserving & Restoring Family Treasures Presentation

Below are some references and resources related to preserving and restoring family treasures. I’ve created a YouTube playlist with several videos that demonstrate the techniques discussed, and offer suggestions for preventative care.

Please note: Some of the videos refer to temperature in degrees Celsius.

Mold can set in within 48 hours of materials being removed from the flood waters, so it is important to prioritize which materials you would like to salvage. Each of the sections below highlight the needs for books, documents, and photographs.

 

Books:

 

Remember that the water soaked books will be much more pliable and the paper prone to tearing when wet. Be careful when handling waterlogged books. You should clean the books by carefully and gentle moving individual books through clean water (see the video “Salvage of Water Damaged Books,” below). Once the books are clean, you can either air dry them or freeze them to air dry later.

 

Documents:

 

Individual documents are even weaker than books, so it may not be possible to clean all of the dirt off through the techniques described above. Additionally, you must provide significant support while handling the wet documents. If the document is strong enough, you can use clotheslines to dry the documents or you can rest them on a laundry drying racks (see the video, “Salvage of Water Damaged Documents and Leaflets,” below).

 

Photographs:

 

Family photographs often top the salvage prioritization list, and luckily, they can often be saved with a bit of work. If your photographs are in albums, you should initially treat them like books by gently moving the entire album through a bin of clean water in one motion. Once the albums are cleaned, you can carefully use a pair of scissors to remove the individual photographs from the album and then very carefully separate the photograph from the plastic covering (if it is in one). If the photograph is clean, you can simply air dry it or hang it to dry on a wash line with plastic clips. If the photograph itself is dirty, you can remove debris by submerging the photograph in a tub of clean water, and gently cleaning it with a soft brush under the water.

If the photographs are not in albums, you should rinse them in the clean water tub, separate them, clean the individual photographs (if necessary), and then dry them. Try to remove any framed photographs from within their frames—it is important to try and keep photographs from drying onto glass.

 

Freezing to Prevent Mold

If you do not have time to air-dry your documents, books or photographs (due to lack or power, space, etc.) you can freeze the cleaned objects and dry them later. To freeze the objects, wrap them in wax paper—photographs should be separated with the wax paper—and place them into freezer bags. You can them place them into your frost-free freezer and wait until you have the time and space to air dry them later.

Important Note: Do not try to freeze magnetic tape such as VHS tapes, reel-to-reel audio, cassette tapes, or camcorder tapes. If you have moving image or audio materials you would like to salvage, please see this guide.

Here are some other useful guides:

 
 

American Institute for Conservation of Historic & Artistic Works

Disaster Response and Recovery

If you would like to hire a professional conservator, you can locate one through the American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works.