Safety
Precautions:
* Wear protective, latex gloves and long sleeves.
If
mold is present, wear a respirator (N–95 HEPA or better).
Some mold species are toxic; if any health effects are observed,
contact a doctor and/or mycologist. When cleaning items with
dry mold, make sure the mold spores are drawn way from you,
i.e. by the use of a vacuum cleaner. Wash your hands after
handling materials with mold.
Air-drying:
*
Use fans to provide maximum air circulation but do not aim
fans directly at the drying materials.
Absorb
excess moisture using a clean sponge, white paper or bath
towels, etc. Do not blot on hand-written ink or fragile surfaces.
Do not use printed newsprint for blotting; ink can transfer.
Air-drying
Paper Documents, Maps, Posters, etc:
*
Paper is very fragile when wet and must be handled with care,
provide adequate support.
*
Blot excess water off the documents.
*
Do not attempt to separate individual items while very wet.
You may leave them in stacks no higher than 1/4" to dry.
If
pages can be separated safely they can be interleaved using
absorbent or separating materials, such as waxed paper. Change
interleaving materials until item is dry.
Clean,
unrusted window-screens stacked with bricks or wood blocks
between them will provide a drying surface with maximum air
circulation. If drying items on a hard surface, cover area
with absorbent materials and change when wet. When items are
almost dry, place them between protective sheets such as unprinted
newsprint and put a light weight on them to flatten.
Note: If the item is too wet when placed under weights, you
may create a micro-environment for mold.
Air-drying
Framed Items:
*
Place the frame glass-side down and remove the backing materials.
* Carefully remove object and air-dry.
If
the object is stuck to the glass, do not remove; instead dry
frame with object inside, glass side down on a flat surface.
Air-drying
Books:
*
Fan books open and stand on top or bottom edge; never stand
them on the front edge.
*
Stand books on driest edge first to provide support. As the
book dries turn it upside-down to the opposite edge every
few hours.
Place
a sheet of waxed paper larger than the pages between the front
and back cover and adjacent page before standing on edges.
Replace the interleaving as it becomes saturated.
When
the book is no longer wet, but still cool to the touch, close
and place on a solid surface with a slight weight to keep
distortion to a minimum. Check frequently to ensure that no
mold is growing.
Air-drying Photographic Materials:
*
Some historical photographs are very sensitive to water damage
and may not be recoverable.
*
Most prints, negatives and color slides can be air-dried.
The emulsion (picture or image) side should be face up.
*
Avoid touching the front surface of wet or damp photographic
prints or negatives.
Note:
The emulsion side often appears less glossy on negatives and
color slides. To speed drying time, dry items on a clothesline
using wooden or non-abrasive plastic clothespins. If the photographs
or negatives are stuck together or the emulsion is damaged,
contact a photographic conservator or your local historical
society or museum for advice.
If
photographic materials are covered with mud or dirt and are
still wet, they may be gently rinsed in a bucket of cold,
clean water, or a light stream of cold water, and then dried.
Contact a photographic conservator. Do not freeze them unless
advised to do so by a conservator.
Recovery of Water-damaged Collections with Mold:
*
Active mold looks either fuzzy or slimy.
*
Do not attempt to remove active mold.
*
Dormant mold is dry and powdery. See safety precautions above
for handling mold.
Stop
mold outbreaks by improving environmental conditions. Humidity
levels should be as low as possible below 50%. Use a dehumidifier.
Low temperatures -- below 68° F -- are recommended. Short
exposure to sunlight and circulating air outdoors may help
to dry moldy items more rapidly.
Note:
There may be light damage (fading or discoloration); use this
treatment only with materials where some light damage is acceptable.
When
the mold has become dormant through drying it can be removed,
using a vacuum cleaner and/or a soft brush. After vacuuming,
dispose of bag. Clean brushes to prevent spreading the mold
spores. Safety precautions are particularly important in this
stage.
Water
damage to materials may be irreversible. The treatment of
items of high monetary, historic or sentimental value
should be referred to a conservator if possible. If that is
not possible, you may be able to scan the item, and use photo
imaging to repair damaged area. Someone skilled in photography
and computer imaging may be able to assist you.
To
select a professional best qualified to treat your object,
contact the referral service maintained by The Foundation
of the American Institute for Conservation (FAIC). They will
provide you with a list of conservators in your area that
can help you find appropriate conservation treatment:
-
- - Source: Library of Congress: www.loc.gov/preserv/
Works
of Art
When
the damage is already done, there is little that the non-specialist
can do to clean or repair works of art on paper. Traditional
old remedies such as bread crumbs to clean off dirt and commercially
produced tapes to repair tears may do more harm than good,
unless the alternative to temporary taping is further fragmentation
of the separated parts and a serious loss of material. In
this latter case, hand the damaged work to a conservator as
soon as possible.
If
prints and drawings get really wet, for example from a burst
pipe, it is better to lay them out separately on blotting
paper to dry using a good cool air circulation, rather than
use an artificial heat source. In the case of a serious flood
or a fire, get help from a conservator as soon as possible.
With
professional treatment, the condition of the paper and image
can at least be stabilized so that their deterioration won't
progress. Most damage can be corrected by a skilled conservator,
but remember that faded colors cannot be restored to their
original brightness and severe paper staining may only be
reduced rather than removed.
- - - Source: Museums, Libraries and Archives Council,
London England
Care,
Handling and Storage of Books
Proper handling and storage in a stable, cool, clean, non-humid
environment, can prolong its life.
For
example, the high humidity in an attic or basement can promote
mold growth, cockle pages, and attract insects. Extremely
low humidity, as found above hot radiators, can dry out leather
bindings.
Direct
sun-light, with a large ultraviolet (UV) component, will fade
leather and cloth. Blue leather fades to dull green and red
leather to brown, especially along the spine of the book.
Dust,
dirt and grime from handling can adversely effect books as
well. Many people shelve their books in closed glass cases
away from brightly lit windows or damp exterior walls to minimize
the amount of dust and grime that will accumulate.
How
we handle and use a book contributes to its longevity. If
a book will not lay flat, do not use force it to open further.
The covers should always be supported when the book is open.
Books with dry flaking leather covers can be wrapped in paper
or polyester jackets to keep the fragments and dirt from transferring
to hands, adjoining books and the rest of the pages.
In
the past, leather books were treated with a leather dressing;
however the application of an oil or leather dressing can
have an adverse effect and is, therefore, not recommended.
See
Library of Congress Preservation Directorate handout: "Leather
Dressing."
To select the professional best qualified to treat you book,
contact the referral service maintained by The Foundation
of the American Institute for Conservation (FAIC). They will
provide you with a list of professionals in your area that
can help you find an appropriate conservator or conservation
treatment.
Source:
The Foundation of the American Institute for Conservation
(FAIC) 1717 K Street, NW, Suite 301 Washington, D.C. 20006
Telephone (202) 452-9545 FAX (202) 452-9328 E-mail: infoaic@aol.com
WWW: http://aic.stanford.edu/
Library
of Congress Home Page Go to: www.loc.gov/preserv/
Preventing
Deterioration: Keep photographic materials at proper environmental
conditions. Relative humidity is the single most important
factor in preserving most photographic materials. Relative
humidity levels above 60% will accelerate deterioration. Low
and fluctuating humidity may also damage them. Conditions
of around 68° F and 30-40% relative humidity are appropriate
and easiest to maintain in enclosed areas, such as an interior
closet or an air-conditioned room -- not in an attic or basement.
High temperatures and high relative humidity levels will accelerate
deterioration.
Temperature,
not relative humidity, is the controlling factor in the stability
of contemporary color photographs. Storage at low temperatures
(40°F or below) is recommended. Appropriate enclosures for
cold storage are available from various vendors.
Exposure
to visible and ultraviolet (UV) light is potentially damaging
to photographs. Light can cause embrittlement, yellowing and
color fading in prints and hand-colored surfaces. Extended
display of photographs is not recommended; however if they
must be displayed, use UV-filtering plastic or glass in framing.
Exposure of color slides to the light in the projector should
be kept to a minimum. Use duplicate slides instead.
Atmospheric
pollutants, particularly sulfur compounds, will cause black
and white images to fade and discolor. Gas by-products given
off by fresh paint fumes, plywood, deteriorated cardboard
and many cleaning supplies may cause accelerated image deterioration.
Storage in non-acidic containers is recommended.
Handling
Photographic Materials: If photographs are handled improperly,
they can suffer disastrous damage, including tears, cracks,
losses, abrasions, fingerprints, and stains. Avoid touching
fragile photographic materials; salts in human perspiration
may damage surfaces. Wear clean cotton gloves if possible
when handling negatives and prints.
Storage
of Photographic Materials:
House
photos in protective enclosures to keep out gritty dirt and
dust which can abrade images, retain moisture, and deposit
contaminants. Avoid and/or remove materials such as acidic
paper or cardboard, polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastic, rubber
bands, paper clips, and pressure-sensitive tapes and rubber
cement.
Suitable
storage materials should be made of plastic or paper, and
free of sulfur, acids, and peroxides. Paper enclosures must
be acid-free, lignin-free, and are available in both buffered
(alkaline, pH 8.5) and unbuffered (neutral, pH 7) stock. Storage
materials must pass the ANSI Photographic Activity Test (PAT)
which is noted in supplier's catalogs. Buffered paper enclosures
are recommended for brittle prints that have been mounted
onto poor-quality secondary mounts and deteriorated film-base
negatives. Buffered enclosures are not recommended for contemporary
color materials. Paper enclosures are opaque, thus preventing
unnecessary light exposure; porous; easy to label in pencil;
and relatively inexpensive. Suitable plastic enclosures are
uncoated polyester film, uncoated cellulose triacetate, polyethylene,
and polypropylene. Note: Photographic emulsions may stick
to the slick plastic surface at high relative humidity (RH);
the RH must remain below 80% or do not use plastic enclosures.
Plastic enclosures must not be used for glass plate, nitrate,
or acetate-based negatives.
Prints
of historic value should be matted with acid-free rag or museum
board for protection. Adhesives should not touch the print.
Matting should be done by an experienced framer or under the
direction of a trained conservator. See Handout: Guide to
Preservation Matting and Framing.
Store
all prints and negatives that are matted or placed in paper
or plastic enclosures in acid-free boxes. If possible, keep
negatives separate from print materials. Store color transparencies/slides
in acid-free or metal boxes with a baked-on enamel finish
or in polypropylene slide pages. Commonly available PVC slide
pages, easily identified by their strong plastic odor, should
never be used because of their extreme chemical reactivity.
Place
early miniature-cased photographs, including daguerreotypes,
ambrotypes and tintypes, carefully into acid-free paper envelopes
and house flat; keep loose tintypes in polyester sleeves,
or, if flaking is present, in paper enclosures.
Storage
of family photographs in albums is often desirable, and many
commercially available albums utilize archival-quality materials.
Avoid albums constructed of highly colored pages. Never use
commercially available "magnetic" or "no stick" albums for
the storage of contemporary or historic photographic prints
in black-and-white or color. These materials will deteriorate
quite quickly over time.
Prepared
by Debbie Hess Norris, Photographic Conservator and Assistant
Director, Art Conservation Program, University of Delaware/Winterthur
[Excerpts
of text taken from Caring for Your Collections: Preserving
and Protecting Your Art and Other Collectibles, The National
Committee to Save America's Cultural Collections; Arthur W.
Schultz, Chairman. Published in 1992 by Harry N. Abrams, Incorporated,
New York.]
The
preservation procedures described here have been used by the
Library of Congress in the care of its collections and are
considered suitable by the Library as described; however,
the Library will not be responsible for damage to your collection
should damage result from the use of these procedures. Revised
12/98
The
Foundation of the American Institute for Conservation (FAIC)
1717 K Street, NW, Suite 301 Washington, D.C. 20006
Telephone (202) 452-9545 FAX (202) 452-9328
E-mail: infoaic@aol.com
WWW: http://aic.stanford.edu/
The
preservation procedures described here have been used by the
Library of Congress in the care of its collections and are
considered suitable by the Library as described; however,
the Library will not be responsible for damage to your collection
should damage result from the use of these procedures.
- - -Source: Library of Congress: www.loc.gov/preserv/
Revised 12/1998
Go
to:
* Library of Congress Home Page
Storage
of Paper Items
It
is best to store paper items flat, rather than folding and
unfolding, which can lead to creases and tears. Seek the advice
of a paper conservator, if any trouble is encountered when
unfolding or unrolling an object.
Paper
materials may be stored in acid-free alkaline folders, polyester
film folders or alkaline mats. Alkaline paper or board provides
a desirable neutralizing effect on acidity. The stiffness
of the storage folder or box should provide adequate support
to the item(s) in storage and transport. Since acidity migrates,
acidic storage materials should be avoided, and highly acidic
materials, such as newspaper clippings or telegrams should
be isolated to avoid acid migration. Polyester film has the
benefit of being clear and can also provide support, but is
not alkaline. Polyester film can have an electrostatic charge
which will cause damage to friable media such as unfixed pastel
and charcoal, heavily applied pencil, and flaking media.
Handling
paper materials:
Hands should be clean and dry before handling paper items,
as the oils from fingers can cause staining on the paper.
Avoid
having food or drinks in the area of your collection.
Use
pencils when working with your collection, to avoid possible
disfigurement from inks.
Damaged
Paper Items:
If
a paper item becomes damaged, place it in a folder and contact
a paper conservator, who can provide the treatment needed.
Avoid
using pressure-sensitive tapes (including those called "archival")
as they can cause irreversible disfigurement, embrittlement
of paper and alteration of inks.
If a flat paper item becomes moldy or wet, isolate it from
other materials and dry it with warm circulating air. Contact
a paper conservator for further advice.
To
select the professional best qualified to treat your object,
contact the referral service maintained by The Foundation
of the American Institute for Conservation (FAIC). They will
provide you with a list of conservators in your area that
can help you find an appropriate conservator or conservation
treatment:
The
Foundation of the American Institute for Conservation (FAIC)
1717 K Street, NW, Suite 301 Washington, D.C. 20006
Telephone (202) 452-9545 FAX (202) 452-9328 E-mail: infoaic@aol.com
WWW: http://aic.stanford.edu/
-
- - Source: Library of Congress, Preservation
