Unrolling old photos: Hello, I found an old picture of my wife's grandmother that has been rolled up for many years. Is there a way to "soften" the paper so that I can unroll and...

DaveFinton Loc: Caledonia, Michigan

Hello,

I found an old picture of my wife's grandmother that has been rolled up for many years. Is there a way to "soften" the paper so that I can unroll and flatten it without introducing many cracks? The photo is otherwise in excellent condition - about 70 years old, and I would like to be able to place it on my flatbed scanner without causing damage.

I have quite a few other old photos that are curled - hopefully I can use similar techniques to flatten them as well.

Thanks in advance for any helpful suggestions!

pesfls Loc: Oregon, USA

I can't answer directly, but when I inherited an ancestor's civil war diary that had been typed and folded by my grandmother about 100 years ago I was told by a friend to go to the state university I live near and contact the college's archivist for advice. I did and achieved success. The gentleman was very interested and helpful. Don't think they tend to have much human contact. Perhaps you could try what I did with success. Good luck.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

pesfls wrote:

I can't answer directly, but when I inherited an ancestor's civil war diary that had been typed and folded by my grandmother about 100 years ago I was told by a friend to go to the state university I live near and contact the college's archivist for advice. I did and achieved success. The gentleman was very interested and helpful. Don't think they tend to have much human contact. Perhaps you could try what I did with success. Good luck.

So,
what did you do???

Bigmike1 Loc: I am from Gaffney, S.C. but live in Utah.

I ain't got no idear what conservationists do but just off the top of my head I would think that placing the photo in a humid environment like a steam room will soften the paper and cause it to be pliable. I can't see humidity hurting it.

PixelStan77 Loc: Vermont/Chicago

DaveFinton wrote:

Hello, br br I found an old picture of my wife's ... (show quote)

Dave, Steam up the bathroom and let them sit for 30 minutes. You should be able to to soften the paper to remove it and flatten it with the steamed up bathroom.

pesfls Loc: Oregon, USA

Longshadow wrote:

So,
what did you do???

I was told to store the pages at 70F and as close to 70% humidity or a little more for several days. I put them in a friends small humidor set at 70/70. Then very carefully unfolded and store flat in a folder with jusy a tad of weight. It worked fine

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

pesfls wrote:

I was told to store the pages at 70F and as close to 70% humidity or a little more for several days. I put them in a friends small humidor set at 70/70. Then very carefully unfold and store flat in a folder with jusy a tad of weight. It worked fine

DaveFinton Loc: Caledonia, Michigan

Excellent! Thank you all for the great suggestions! Now I need to gather my courage and find a humid location where I can carefully try to flatten out the old photo. Perhaps I can find one that is not so precious to start with, and develop a good procedure.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

DaveFinton wrote:

Excellent! Thank you all for the great suggestions! Now I need to gather my courage and find a humid location where I can carefully try to flatten out the old photo. Perhaps I can find one that is not so precious to start with, and develop a good procedure.

Great idea to try it on a "less" important print first.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Bigmike1 wrote:

I ain't got no idear what conservationists do but just off the top of my head I would think that placing the photo in a humid environment like a steam room will soften the paper and cause it to be pliable. I can't see humidity hurting it.

That was my first thought. After all, photos are bathed in water after being developed.

http://www.ala.org/alcts/preservationweek/advice/flatteningphotos
https://thefamilycurator.com/photo-tutorial-how-to-relax-and-rehumidify-old-rolled-photog/
https://www.thoughtco.com/caring-for-and-protecting-old-photographs-1422293

And more -
https://www.google.com/search?q=how+to+humidify+old+photos&rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS716US717&oq=how+to+humidify+old+photos&aqs=chrome..69i57.6103j0j1&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

How was life even possible before the Internet?

StanMac Loc: Tennessee

jerryc41 wrote:

. . . .How was life even possible before the Internet?

👍👍👍👍

Stan

Country Boy Loc: Beckley, WV

Steam does it well. I found a 40 year old photo from basic training that was rolled and put in a sleeve and mailed home. After looking at it, it was stored in the sleeve and the photo was about 2 foot in width. At the recommendation of a pro, I hung it in a shower stall and steamed it. As soon as it started to loosen up, I clipped just enough weight on the other end to help stretch it. It straightened slowly and after it was straight, I placed it in a hard surface flat and let it dry. I would only suggest not using your hands to flatten it until it is truly ready.

DaveFinton Loc: Caledonia, Michigan

Jerry - Great articles! Thank you! I searched the internet using every search topic I could think of, but did not find anything as good as your results!

Ron Dial Loc: Cuenca, Ecuador

Yes,but it takes time and patience. This came from Kodak for 150 yr old photos. First place a light pamphlet or several sheets of paper to start the flattening process. Each month gradually increase the amount of weight, until it will accept a piece of window glass. Then add more glass, until it is flat. This process will prevent the gelatin from cracking. I did this process for 150 year old prints and they came out great. They were tightly rolled, and it took a year. Good luck.

fetzler Loc: North West PA

Check with the George Eastman House in Rochester, NY. I recall a suggestion of placing the photo in a garbage can with water at the bottom. The photo does NOT touch the water use a rack of some sort. when ready unroll and place between cloth layers (cotton or linen would be good) Use glass an weights to hold flat until dry.