Conserving family documents and photographs at home

Understanding why documents decay

Most family collections survive by luck rather than judgement. Letters sit in a shoebox in a wardrobe, certificates are slipped into a plastic wallet, and a photograph album quietly warps on a sunny windowsill. Nothing dramatic happens for years, and then one day an ink has faded, a corner has torn, or a rust mark appears where a pin used to be.

Paper made from wood pulp, which became common in Britain from the mid-nineteenth century onwards, contains lignin and residual acids. These cause the familiar yellowing and brittleness of old newspaper and cheap stationery. Photographic prints are layered structures — a paper base, a binder and an image layer — and each layer reacts differently to its surroundings. Light, heat, damp, pests, pollutants and the natural oils on our fingers all speed the process along.

The encouraging news is that deterioration is cumulative but slow, and much of it can be held back with sensible, inexpensive habits. You cannot undo a faded ink or a foxed stain, but you can ensure nothing gets worse than it needs to.

Handling with care

Wash and dry your hands before working with paper. For ordinary documents, clean dry hands are often safer than cotton gloves, because gloves dull your sense of touch and can catch on torn edges. For photographic prints, negatives and anything metal, wear thin nitrile or clean cotton gloves and change them when they become soiled.

Work on a clear, clean, uncluttered surface, and never on top of another document. Place a sheet of acid-free paper or a clean board beneath whatever you are examining, and support folded, rolled or fragile items on a rigid board so the whole thing moves as one. Do not attempt to unfold, unroll or flatten a crease that has set; the paper will crack along the fold instead. Move documents by sliding, not lifting.

Remove rusty pins, staples, paper clips and rubber bands, which perish, stain and distort. Cut them away with small snips rather than pulling. Never reach for self-adhesive tape. It yellows, fails and sinks into the paper within a few decades, and its removal will always cost more than the tear it was meant to mend. If something is already torn, keep the pieces together in a labelled folder and seek advice before attempting repair.

Choosing the right storage materials

Ordinary cardboard boxes, supermarket envelopes and PVC plastic wallets are worth avoiding. Cardboard is often acidic and can attract insects; PVC gives off gases that damage photographs and will stick to them in damp conditions. Choose materials described as acid-free, lignin-free and, for paper, buffered.

• Folders and tissue: acid-free paper folders for bundles; interleave torn or inky items with acid-free tissue to stop them touching their neighbours.
• Polyester sleeves: clear, inert sleeves are ideal for items handled often, such as certificates you want to show visitors. Paper inside a sleeve is still supported, so always store sleeves flat or vertically in a box, never leaning.
• Boxes: rigid, acid-free boxes with a close-fitting lid, filled but not crammed, so papers stay upright and do not slump. Line the bottom with a sheet of acid-free board.
• Labelling: write on the outside in pencil, or on a separate slip of paper. Never write on the document itself, even in pencil.

Where to store things at home

Lofts and cellars are the worst places in the house. Lofts swing between baking heat and freezing cold, cellars and garages are damp, and both attract insects and rodents. Kitchens and bathrooms are little better, thanks to steam and cooking fumes.

Aim for a cool, dark, stable cupboard in a spare room or the back of a wardrobe, away from radiators, external walls, pipes and windows. Stable conditions matter more than a precise figure, but roughly 16–20°C and a relative humidity of about 45–55% is a reasonable target. Store boxes on shelves rather than the floor, and keep them off the ground in case of leaks. A small damp-trap sachet inside a closed cupboard can help in a humid room, but change it regularly.

Photographs, albums and negatives

Older albums with sticky, self-adhesive pages are a particular problem: the adhesive dries, the plastic covering shrinks, and prints become trapped and stained. If a photograph is already stuck down, do not force it. Store the album flat in an acid-free box, interleaved with tissue, and consider having the pages professionally imaged so the contents are at least preserved in copy.

Loose prints store well in polyester sleeves or acid-free boxes, standing upright and separated by tissue. Negatives and slides should go into their own sleeves, kept apart from prints, as they are more vulnerable to heat and damp. Never display original photographs in direct sunlight or above a fireplace; a good-quality copy in the frame will spare the original a great deal of harm.

Copies, display and knowing when to ask for help

Copying is the single most effective form of insurance. Scan documents at 600 dots per inch and photographs at 600 to 1200, saving as uncompressed TIFF files. Keep at least two copies in different places, give duplicates to relatives, and label everything clearly so the digital versions remain identifiable in twenty years' time.

If you discover mould, live insects, water damage or badly deteriorating items, act promptly and seek advice from your local record office or county archive, who are used to helping family historians and will often advise by telephone. Handle mouldy items outdoors, wearing a mask and gloves, and isolate them from the rest of the collection until you know more. With steady conditions, good enclosures and a little care, most family papers can be passed on in far better order than they reached you.