Separating Photos Stuck Together

[ww2vault]

Hi,

 

In the 9th AD grouping that I have posted on here, there are about 100 small photos, not including the ones with one or more stuck together. At some point an time before I acquired the grouping the small photos were subject to water damage, now there are photos that are stuck together.

 

Does anyone know of any good techniques as to go about separating them without damaging them any further? Or will have to take them to a photo specialist that could work on them? Thank you.

 

 

- Jeff

[mrhell]

Sir, while I never seperated photographs, I did sucessfully seperate automotive paint color samples from the '60s that were stuck together. I did so by boiling a pot of water on the stove and holding the pages in the rising steam. The paper will become plyable and should seperate by lightly pulling them appart. Then lay he photos on a flat surface with paper towel under them and something on top of them to keep them flat while they dry. These paint samples were on paper stock that is simular to photos and they had a painted layer which would crack and lift easily if you tried to pull them appart while dry. But the streaming did the trick and the samples seperated with minimal damage.

 

Just thought I would pass this along. Good luck.

[Mr-X]

I would seek out a photograph developer.

The chemicals that are used to develop the photos themselves might be employed to do the job of separating them without destroying them.

But seek the advise of a professional and let them do it.

[Mr-X]

Jeff,

 

I would seek out a photograph developer.

The chemicals that are used to develop the photos themselves might be employed to do the job of separating them without destroying them.

But seek the advise of a professional and let them do it.

 

Leigh

[Bluehawk]

Jeff,

 

I would seek out a photograph developer.

The chemicals that are used to develop the photos themselves might be employed to do the job of separating them without destroying them.

But seek the advise of a professional and let them do it.

 

Leigh

Ditto - without ANY doubt.

[Peace]

At the request of WW2 vault, merged 2 double posts, and cleaned it up a little. Stijn

[ww2vault]

Thanks Peace.

 

Also, I guess the consensus would be to take the photos down to a photo specialist to handle the situation. That does sound like the best solution rather then doing something myself to them.

 

Separating photos from each other would have to be a very delicate process since trying to remove two or more photos stuck together would be extremely risky since it would be very easy to peel them apart and have the thin layer of ink that makes up the picture, to peel with it, probably even if they are pre-steamed as well.

 

I will try and ask a local photo restoration person and see what they think and if they can handle this type of situation. When I do so and if he is able to successfully separate the photos I will post back here how it all went.

 

Thanks everyone.

 

- Jeff

[MAW]

Like others have said.....water caused the problem and water can solve the problem, but there is a good chance that there will be some additional damaged to some photos.

 

I would definately as a photo store...preferably a ma&pa traditional store....if they had something else that would work.