PRESERconVersATION
Water Damage at Home - You can Recover
Part 2: Drying Wet
Material
OK so Murphy's law has struck and your paper based treasures have been wet. What can you do to dry them before they go mouldy and will they be any good when they're dry? Here are some tips to help you get a reasonable result.
- Know your limitations. Refer items with water soluble media, photo albums, stamp albums, 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.
- Most wet paper based items can be dried by a combination of air
drying, interleaving with absorbent paper and mild pressing. Before you
commence drying make sure you have the necessary space, equipment and supplies
to do the job. You will need:
- A clean flat space that can be dedicated to the task for as long as necessary.
- Plenty of absorbent paper such as paper towelling or blotting paper.
- A fan to circulate cool air during drying.
- Sheets of glass or particle board to use as weights.
- Single sheet material can be successfully air dried until they are just slightly damp and then press them lightly between several sheets of absorbent paper under a piece of glass or particle board (larger than the item you are drying). Change the absorbent paper every hour to promote drying.
- Books can be successfully dried by the following methods:
- Interleave every 10 pages with absorbent paper (any more interleaving than this may damage the binding). Change the absorbent paper, placing new sheets between different pages every hour to promote drying. Remember to be very careful when interleaving wet books.
- Alternatively, if the book is strong enough, stand it upright and fan it open to air dry until it is only slightly damp. Drying can be assisted by using a fan.
- As with single sheet items, when the book is just slightly damp lay it flat, interleave every ten pages with fresh absorbent paper and press it lightly under a weight to help it dry flat. Change the interleaving hourly between different pages to promote drying. If additional weight is necessary a house brick or equivalent weight can be used on top of the glass or board.
- Care should be taken not to crush or distort book spines. This can be avoided by not over interleaving and by not pressing the spines. When pressing, allow the spine to protrude slightly from under the weight to prevent damage.
- Books with glossy or coated papers that have stuck together are difficult to separate and should be referred to a conservator.
- Don't try to dry a book by pressing out the water. This can cause the pages to stick together.
- Avoid drying material in sunlight as this can cause yellowing, fading and uneven drying, damaging the structure.
REMEMBER: 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 in the garage or garden shed. Protect them as much as possible with good packaging such as polyethylene plastic bags, watertight boxing or enclosed shelving.
