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Book and Document Recovery |
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What is more perishable in a disaster than paper? It burns, it turns into paper mache upon being soaked, it is often eaten with relish by bugs, and it’s a great medium for growing molds. So when disaster strikes, it’s often your precious books, paper memories, and important documents that are most damaged.
You can prevent some damage by being careful about how you store and preserve your documents; keep legal documents in a waterproof, fireproof container. You can preserve things like sentimental papers (old letters or children’s artwork) and photo albums to a certain degree by storing them in plastic bins, preferably watertight. One company recommended for restoration of damaged photographs is http://399Retouch.com. But your books, of course, are always at risk.
You should also keep your books and paper valuables in a room with no direct sunlight and a working dehumidifier; the drier the room is, the less likely mold will grow on the books.
When water damage happens, books and documents can be carefully dried. Don’t ever lay them out in the sun to dry; sunlight reacts with non-acid-free paper and damages it, making it brittle and crumbly. Instead, dry them indoors, on towels or racks, with a gentle breeze provided by a fan and, if possible, a dehumidifier, in the room. Never turn the fan directly on your books, as this can cause the pages and binding to warp; and frequently fan the pages by hand so that they don’t stick together.
For large book and document recovery jobs, you probably want to call in an expert. There are companies today who, through special methods involving freeze-drying, convection drying, and pressure, can restore your books to their un-warped original condition – not perfectly, but very well indeed. The print will be OK, but notes written in ink may bleed. The cost for this service averages about $5 per book.
For best results, you should begin the restoration process as quickly as possible.
If your disaster is a fire, rather than water, you definitely need to call in document recovery specialists. They can restore documents surprisingly well, or at least get enough information from the remains to make it easier to verify and replace them.
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