The negs are your first priority. If they are oldish B&Ws, washing in cool water (sloshing them around in a tray) will help remove some of the contaminants from the fire. Use a bit of Foto Flo (sp?) in the water to make it wetter. Use tap water or bottled drinking water-- Do not use distilled water. Better yet, if you have a photo processing lab, check with them.

 

 If the papers are dry, you can probably hold off on doing anything. In many cases your best bet may well be photocopying them. The “scorched” smell will take a long time (aeons?) to dissipate. Are they important? Why do you want them?

 

Michael McColgin

Conservation Officer

Arizona State Archives

This my opinion only.

 


From: Archives & Archivists [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Kenneth Homsley
Sent: Thursday, July 13, 2006 11:39 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Burnt and Charred Papers

 

Fellow Archivists:

I have several boxes of  correspondence,  publications, and  8 x 11 negatives that were rescued from a fire.  Does anyone  have any experience with this situation?  The negs seem to be just charred on the edges, but some probably have more damage.  Any suggestions on how these should be stored?  Some of the  correspondence is slighly browned, while other correspondence is badly charred.  I plan to just keep this correspondence separated from all other material and interleave where appropriate.  Any other suggestions?

Thanks, 

Ken

 


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A posting from the Archives & Archivists LISTSERV List sponsored by the Society of American Archivists, www.archivists.org. For the terms of participation, please refer to http://www.archivists.org/listservs/arch_listserv_terms.asp.

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