Let’s say there has been a flood and now your prized photographs are saturated with dirty water. When faced with wet photographs, time is not on your side. If a contents pro isn’t available, you can buy some time by freezing the images. First, don’t touch the front of the images (you might accidentally separate the emulsion from the paper). Second, rinse off any mud or sand. The pros have special materials (“lintless” nylon gloves, glassine envelopes, etc.) and techniques, but for the DIY owner, we recommend layering the pictures with sheets of wax paper, then sealing them in a plastic bag – and finally putting them in the freezer. A lot of DIYers know about the freezing part, but the wax paper helps keep the photos from freezing together.
CRDN of South Los Angeles
A Frozen DIY Tip
Let’s say there has been a flood and now your prized photographs are saturated with dirty water. When faced with wet photographs, time is not on your side. If a contents pro isn’t available, you can buy some time by freezing the images. First, don’t touch the front of the images (you might accidentally separate the emulsion from the paper). Second, rinse off any mud or sand. The pros have special materials (“lintless” nylon gloves, glassine envelopes, etc.) and techniques, but for the DIY owner, we recommend layering the pictures with sheets of wax paper, then sealing them in a plastic bag – and finally putting them in the freezer. A lot of DIYers know about the freezing part, but the wax paper helps keep the photos from freezing together.