Roll-out photos

[Alonzo]

I vaguely recall a thread about preserving paper artifacts...however I cannot find it.

There was mention of re-hydrating photos in order ot safely roll them out...using a humidifier of sorts.

Does anyone have advise about this?

 

I recently picked up a huge document group with several roll-out unit photos. They appears to have been stored for a long time and are quite stiff.

The documents are in fairly good shape and are now in archival clear protective sleeves. The group is from WW1.

 

Thanks

[coastie]

I had several long photos that were rolled up and were in a closet and to un-roll them would have caused major damage. I used a clothes steamer, the type used to take out wrinkles. First I suspended one end and started the steaming at the curl. Once it un-rolled I placed it on a flat surface with thick towels to absorb the moisture. This has been over two years ago and do not see any damage caused by the wetting process. If the picture is brittle to start with, it will stay brittle so you have to handle it carefully.

 

For example one picture I have is almost 4 feet long and had been rolled up and put away in a drawer, after years of having stuff piled on top it was crushed and cracked. Carefully I steamed it out and is now flat. Now I'm waiting to see how I can best restore it. I've scanned it into my computer in sections but my computer isn't up to the task of joining it together since it takes bunches of memory to process. Eventually I'll have a new picture printed and archive the photo.

[Cobrahistorian]

Drop me an email at [email protected] and I can explain how we did it in the conservation lab I used to work in.

 

Jon