NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) –The major weather events of the past, have shown us how fragile our family pictures and important documents are. The Historic New Orleans Collection has some tips that might help restore waterlogged or damaged photographs impacted after a storm.
Lydia Blackmore is the Decorative Arts Curator at The Historic New Orleans Collection and says, “we have periodic Caring For Your Collections Online Seminars. We had one three days before Hurricane Ida hit.”
Much can be rebuilt and restored after hurricanes. The worst things for historic objects like photographs, quilts and personal documents, are: heat, humidity, force, and insects. These are the very plague components that come with the onslaught of a storm.
It’s best to scan older tangible photos and use cloud storage or social media to preserve them before storm season even begins. Save digital version on a hard drive and put that hard drive into a water and fireproof portable safe.
“Spend a day and a weekend and inventory those things that are special to you. Record those stories from your elders, who gave them to you. Go sit down with your grandmother and go through the photo albums and label everybody in the photos,” says Blackmore.
Hurricanes can and inclement weather are unpredictable and if mementos do meet a deluge, The Historic New Orleans Collection has a few tips.
“Protect your photographs, your documents or your grandmother’s quilt. Get a big table and lay it with towels. If the photographs are stuck together, you can try to pull them apart very gently. You can try and submerge them again in water and be able to pull them apart that way. If they are really stuck together and you don’t want to damage them, try to dry them out as they are and put them aside to go to a conservator, or somebody who can work on them professionally,” says Blackmore.
It’s hard to look at damaged heirlooms, but if they show damage from a storm or any disaster, that disaster is now part of the unique story of that object and a sign of humanity’s resilience. Some more restoration tips are below.
Photograph Restoration Tips:
Step 1
Steam: Bring a pot of water to a boil. Hold the pictures over the steam produced, and gradually pull them apart. Let them rest under something flat and heavy for a while.
Step 2
Soaking: Place the photos into gentle warm water and let them soak for about 5 minutes, or until the pictures float apart. You can pry them apart in the water carefully. To uncurl, just iron them on the lowest setting possible and leave them under something flat and heavy for a little while.
Step 3
Use a piece of unwaxed dental floss to gently pry apart the photos, being very careful not to rip or damage them.
Step 4
Put a drop or two of oil on a spot where the photos are the least stuck together, and, using a toothpick, slowly and gently work them apart.
Step 5
Leave the pictures in the freezer for about twenty minutes. Try not to overdo the freezing process, or condensation will form on the photos as they come back to room temperature. Work photos apart gently.
Step 6
Microwave: Put the photos in the microwave for 5 seconds. Let them cool down, then repeat. Try and work a piece of dental floss inbetwen. Don’t overdo the heating, or put them in for more than 5 seconds at a time, or the adhesive can burn and ruin the photos.
Step 7
If photographs are too far gone, it might be best to take them to a photograph recovery business.
It’s hard to look at damaged heirlooms, but if they show damage from a storm or any disaster, that disaster is now part of the unique story of that object and a sign of humanity’s resilience.
