Archival Preservation

Note from Liz: This is a subject that I find interesting, I'd love to study museum science! I gathered information on preserving items and thought I'd share. I'm pretty passionate about this subject and I hate to see people making mistakes that will cost them their heirlooms. I think this is an important topic- those who read this blog are generally young, if we learn now how to take care of things, we won't have to try to undo our mistakes later. Also one day you'll probably be inheriting some keepsakes, you should learn now how to take care of them.

My qualifications: My family has always had stuff in storage- some has fared well over the last twenty years and other stuff not so well. We discovered a lot of disintegrating items in the move. I know from experience what works and what doesn't. I have also read extensively on the subject. If there are any questions, let me know.

Above: My first grade class! I am in the top row on the right and I was stinkin' cute if I do say so myself! Sadly these photos are still trapped in an evil magnetic album from the '80s!

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Guide to Archival Preservation

What causes things to compost?

Answer: Heat, light and moisture!

Do you want your items to become compost? Then keep them away from the biggest offenders!

Heat speeds chemical reactions and causes decay more quickly. Light also does the same thing, especially sunlight or fluorescent light. Ultra-violet radiation from these types of light speeds chemical reactions. Humidity levels above 70% promote mold growth and rapid changes in humidity causes damage as things quickly expand and contract.

Do not store important items in an uninsulated attics or damp basements! They are either too hot or too moist for your items to properly store. If you must store things in your basement, control moisture (both on the ground and in the air) and store items at least one foot off the ground (you never know if your basement might flood!).

The rule of thumb is to store important items in an environment that you find comfortable: not too hot, cold or humid.

Other things to avoid:

• Acid: Acid eats away, discolors, and destroys items over time. It also turns things brittle. Acid will leach into surrounding non-acidic items and damage them as well. Look for photo albums, paper, adhesives, pens, containers and other products labeled "acid-free". If a product does not say "acid-free", do not assume it is just because it is made for photos.
  
• Lignin: Lignin is a substance that gives plants and trees their strength and rigidity. When trees are broken down to make paper, the lignin becomes unstable. Paper that has high amounts of lignin, such as newsprint, is very acidic and yellows very easily. Look for products labeled "lignin-free".


• Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC): This unstable plastic emits corrosive and acidic gas, which is harmful to photos and other items. PVC generally has a very plastic-y odor.


• Polyvinyl Acetate (PVA): This is an acidic plastic that causes photos and documents to deteriorate and fade.


• Dust: It appears soft, but is actually abrasive. Remove dust regularly and keep items as clean as possible. Dry dusting is recommended over sprays and chemicals.


• Hands: The oils and salts in your hands are very damaging to items. It is helpful to wear white cotton gloves when handling paper, photographs or textiles. Metal objects are also vulnerable to damage from your hands. Handle your items carefully, do not overhandle.

Good things to store your items in:

• Mylar, Polyester, Polyethylene, Polypropylene: These are inert plastics that are safe for photographs and documents. They do not release harmful gases.

How to care for:

Paper:

• Remove post-it notes, paperclips, rubber bands, brads and staples before storing important documents. Those items will either break down and stain (rubber bands), leave acid or adhesive (post-it notes), or rust (staples, brads and paperclips).
• Do not place newspaper clippings, photos and letters in the same storage pocket- separate them out.
  
• Archival Mist can be sprayed on newspaper clippings, ticket stubs, etc to neutralize acid.


• Store important letters, documents, etc, flat when possible. Uncurling tightly curled papers leads to fiber breakdown. Store folded papers (like letters) unfolded and avoid unfolding and refolding as that breaks down the fibers and makes ripping more likely.


• To store an acidic document, place it between two sheets of quality paper- the acid will leach into the quality paper instead of surrounding documents.

Photos:

• Color prints, negatives and slides are more delicate and prone to chemical breakdown than traditional black and white.


• Handle negatives and prints by the edges.


• Never write on the front or back of a photo- Ink can bleed through over time and pens can dent photos as well. If you must write on your photo, use acid-free, fadeproof, waterproof inks. Sharpies are not archival!


• Keep negatives separated in plastic sleeves. Do not store negatives touching one another. Negatives from before the 1950's are prone to sticking together and the chemical process used then was prone to combustion!


• Keep photos and negatives in appropriate acid free sleeves, albums, boxes and containers. The envelopes that photos come in from the developer are not acid-free! Old magnetic albums are BAD for your photos!
• Don't cut Polaroid photos- they release harmful chemicals.
• Display copies of photos, keep originals safe from sun damage.

CDs and DVDs:

• Once thought to last forever, new studies have shown that it is unknown how long cds last. The best guess is 10-15 years.
• Use high quality, archival discs (like Archival Gold) to store important photos and files. They claim to last several hundred years.
• Avoid flexing discs, as this creates tiny cracks that can let in moisture and lead to the breakdown of your disc.
• use an archival pen when labeling discs, as inferior ink can leach into your disc over time and lead to its breakdown.
• Keep discs away from moisture, especially the kind you burn (I lost my Napoleon Dynamite cd this way!)

Videocassettes and Audio tapes:

• Store tapes upright (like books), not flat. Storing them flat could lead to distortions.
• High temperatures can damage tapes.
• Each use causes wear on the tape, eventually leading to a breakdown of the material. Try to get important recordings transferred to a cd or dvd.

Textiles:

• Make sure things are truly clean before you store them.
• Do not store items in a cedar chest- they do not protect items and can actually damage them with fumes and oils.
• Avoid storing items in plastic- this traps in moisture. You want items to be able to "breathe".
• Store heirloom items in acid-free boxes. Use acid-free tissue inside garments to limit creasing. On a regular basis, refold item in a different way to avoid permanent creasing.
• Avoid harsh detergents, use a gentle detergent made for heirloom items (there's many quilt detergents on the market). Vacuuming is often effective.

Paintings:

• Do not store valued works of art over a frequently used fireplace.
• Avoid direct sunlight, use indirect lighting. Do not use spotlights on your artwork.
• Avoid halogen light- it emits high levels of ultraviolet light which is damaging to light-sensitive items.

Printing:

• When printing documents, laser ink printing is more archival than printing from ink-jet printers. Printing from an ink-jet fades rapidly and will run if you get it wet.
• Some ink-jet manufacturers (Epson, HP) now have archival printing. You must use their recommended paper and ink to achieve these results.
• Sprays are available to spray on printed photos to reduce fading. Older home-printed photos are highly susceptible to fading.

Organization:

• Do for your descendants what you wish your ancestors had done for you...do you wish they had been organized? Labeled photos? Kept a journal? Then do it for the next generation!
• Don't do what can't be undone! Do not crop, laminate or otherwise alter original documents and pictures. Make Photoshop corrections on a copy, not the original file.
• Make several copies of important documents and files onto discs,websites, or external hardrives...do not store everything solely on your computer or you will be in trouble when it crashes!
• Make prints of important files and photos, these could wind up being your only copies if your other options fail.
• It doesn't matter how much money you've sunk into something if it is going to ruin your items. My mom has a hard time wanting to take photos out of magnetic albums because she "spent so much money on them".
• Develop a system of organization for photos, documents and computer files.
• Play the "what if?" game to cover your bases (example: What if I store all my documents on my computer and it crashes? What if I store this in the basement?)
• Upgrade items to the next technology while it is still relatively easy to do so. Technology moves faster and faster and we have to act fast before our items are lost forever. My mom has things stored on floppy discs from the 80's, I can pretty much guarantee that that info will never see the light of day again. I need to move my digital art projects from zip disks onto cds before it is too late. Small diskettes have pretty much become obsolete, move that info while you can!

I hope that this information helps you preserve your items. I know it sounds like a lot, but a little prevention goes a long way. Think about things before you do them. I'm not perfect at this, but I try. One of these days I'll get my childhood photos out of those magnetic albums!