Back on January 3rd, I posted a first in a series about preserving your family history and the importance of it. In this post, we will explore paper and understanding the make up of it and how to preserve and care for it. I would like to thank the Central Michigan University for the data they share in this article.
Many families preserve letters, diaries, or other written
documents in which family members discuss
their life and times. World War II fiftieth anniversary
remembrances have led many families to look for a relative's
carefully stored letters home from the European theater.
Other families have saved newspaper clippings of important
family events, such as the announcements of births, marriages,
or obituaries. The family bible can often be an heirloom handed
from one generation to the next. Often when the letters are
brought down from the attic or the clippings retrieved from
the back of the closet, family members are upset to see the
items are desintegrating.
Understanding the Problem
Since the 1860s all but the most expensive paper has been made
from wood pulp. Manufacturers used wood pulp because it was
much more plentiful and much less expensive than the cotton
fibers they had previously used. Thus manufacturers could sell
paper to consumers at a fraction of the former cost. However,
paper made of wood included chemicals that had not been found in
paper made in the earlier era. The most important change was the
introduction of acid. Acid is what causes paper to slowly turn
brown and become brittle. Eventually acidic paper will disintegrate
into small pieces of confetti.
Exactly how long it takes for a specific piece of paper to
self-destruct depends on the exact nature of
the chemicals used to make the product and the way in which paper
is stored. Newsprint is usually
the cheapest paper available and tends to be the first to decay.
Newspaper clippings can often show a
significant amount of aging in ten to twenty-five years. Other
paper will decay more slowly, but any
paper over fifty years of age may have developed significant
problems.
A second problem created by acid is acid migration. Acid
migration is a term used to explain the phenomena in which
acid from low quality paper tends to bleed out onto neighboring
pieces of paper. A typical example of acid migration occurs when
a newspaper clipping that had been enclosed with a letter is
allowed to remain in contact with it for many years. When the
letter is re-opened a brown stain in the outline of the clipping
has often discolored the paper on which the letter was written.
That stain is an example of acid migration. Acid migration not
only discolors paper, it increases the acidic content in the area
of the stain thus shortening the paper's lifespan.
The Enemies of Paper
The best way to minimize damage to your family records is to
properly store your papers away from four hazards that measurably
shorten paper's lifespan: heat, humidity, light, and careless
handling by people.
Heat speeds chemical reactions and causes paper to decay more
quickly. The rate of change is dramatic; doubling with every
ten degree (fahrenheit) increase in temperature. Humidity can also
destroy paper. Humidity does its harm in two ways. Humidity
levels above seventy percent promotes mold growth. Rapid changes
in humidity can also damage paper. Wide variations in humidity causes
paper to "cycle," expanding and contracting as water is drawn from
and goes back into the paper fibers. Bright light, particularly
sunlight and fluorescent light, can also injure records. Like heat,
ultra-violet radiation can speed chemical reactions that harm paper.
However, damage from light usually shows up first in ink which fades
and eventually disappears. Careless handling is probably the
most frequent cause of harm to paper. Particularly as paper
ages and becomes brittle, it will easily rip if it is not handled
very gently.
Preserving Paper
Storing loose papers properly is an important step in preserving
your family records. Proper storage
can lengthen the useful life of any piece of paper. Some helpful
ideas include:
- Store family papers in a cool, dry place, where the humidity
stays relatively constant. A
bedroom closet is often a good choice particularly if the bedroom
or the whole house, is air
conditioned. A room where the temperature remains between
sixty-five and seventy degrees fahrenheit
with a constant relative humidity of about forty-five percent is
an ideal environment. Uninsulated
attics or damp basements are very poor places to store valuable
family papers.
- Do not expose paper to bright light for extended periods of time.
If you feel strongly that you must
frame and display a particular document, mat it in acid-free
material, leave a small gap between the
item and the glass of the frame, and spend a few extra dollars to
purchase glass that filters out ultra-violet radiation. When
hanging the item avoid a location where direct sunlight from a
window or another source of light will reach it.
- Do not store particularly bad pieces of paper touching higher
quality paper. If you desire to store
a poor quality piece of paper place it between two blank sheets
of high quality paper. Acid will
migrate into the blank paper, which can be thrown away, rather
than into family letters or other
heirlooms.
- Do store papers opened (not folded), and flat. Fold lines place
great stress on paper fiber. As
paper ages and becomes brittle folds are the place were paper
usually first cracks.
Paper Restoration - A Word of Caution
Over the years, professional conservators have developed a
sophisticated array of tools and techniques
that can be used to clean, restore and mend documents or books.
Successfully using these procedures,
however, frequently requires considerable skill, the use of toxic
chemicals, and some good luck.
Restoration of damaged paper is often expensive, frequently
risky, and sometimes doesn't work. In
most cases it should only be done by a professional conservator.
The best advice to most do-it-yourself restorers is to do nothing. Home
remedies often not only fail to fix
the problem but introduce new problems that are even more
difficult to fix. It is usually better to store
a partially damaged document under good conditions than to try to fix it without
professional help. Perhaps the most destructive "home remedy"
professional conservators face are
repairs done with self-adhesive tape.
Self-adhesive tape should never be used to repair torn or ripped
paper, or in an attempt to refasten torn
covers to a book. Most tape sticks for only five to ten years.
Eventually the tape fall offs, leaving
behind a tear or rip imbedded with a sticky adhesive mess that
discolors the paper. Even a trained
conservator, who could fix the rip or tear in a way that is
permanent, will find it difficult and probably
impossible, to remove the adhesive and the discoloration from the
paper.
Close behind tape in its destructive effect is the practice of
lamination. Lamination does not lengthen
the natural life of paper and its sticky plastic is virtually
impossible to remove. Lamination should not
be confused with the professional practice of "encapsulation."
Encapsuled documents are placed
between two sheets of inert plastic. However the "sandwich" that
is created is sealed only around the
edges, thus the document is not attached to the plastic in any
way.
In general, the best advice for preserving your family papers is
to store papers opened, flat, and in a cool, dry place and to
restrain yourself and your family from attempting any kind of
home repairs to damaged items.
Paper Care - A Checklist
- Always store paper records in a cool, dry place.
- Do not store paper in uninsulated attics or damp basements.
- Always store paper away from bright light.
- If you choose to frame and display a paper item, always use glass
which filters out UV radiation in front
of the document.
- Store papers opened, rather than folded, and flat.
- Separate "bad" pieces of paper from other items by sandwiching
"bad" paper between two, blank sheets of quality paper.
- Never put pressure sensitive tape on a document.
- Never laminate a document.
