Home >
About Us >
Initiatives > Preservation > PRESERconVersATION > Article
PRESERconVersATION
Water Damage at Home - You can Recover
Part 1: Response
Preservation Services staff are often contacted for advice on how to
recover paper based materials that have been water damaged at home. Family
papers, important documents and certificates, books, bibles, art works, stamp
and other collections, and personal records are included in the range of paper
items that can be seriously damaged or lost when water damaged.
But you can recover! Here are some tips that may help when disaster
strikes your paper treasures at home.
- If possible stop the source of the leak. It may be as simple as
closing a window or turning off a tap. If a leak is beyond your control, either
try to protect material from further exposure or carefully move it.
- When you find wet material don't panic:
- Carefully move it to a clean dry area but be very careful as
wet paper items can be extremely fragile.
- Make sure the area is away from direct sunlight as this can
cause uneven drying. Allow fresh air flow or use fans to circulate the air.
Never use warm air fans and blowers as this will raise humidity levels and
increase the risk of mould growth.
- Assess the situation and decide what material needs to be saved
and what can be disposed of.
- If the material can't be moved easily cover it with plastic
sheeting to prevent further exposure.
- Some items will need specialist treatment: You should refer items
with water soluble media, photo albums, stamp collections, art works and any
other items that are very important to you to a paper conservator as soon as
possible. Preservation Services can supply a list of qualified conservators or
they can be found in the Yellow Pages under Antiques- Reproductions &/or
Restorations.
- To reduce the risk of your paper based treasures being damaged by
water, store them in an area away from windows, wet areas and plumbing. Don't
store them on the floor, under the house, in the roof space or the garage/
garden shed. Protect them as much as possible with good packaging such as
polyethylene plastic bags, watertight boxing or enclosed shelving.
