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Old 02-24-2014, 10:40 PM
Michael B Michael B is offline
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I have not soaked these types of albums so I defer to Rhys on this. However, the one thing that nobody mentions when discussing soaking an item is that distilled water is the best type to use. It has no chemicals and is purified. You should be able to find it in CVS, Walgreens, Rite-Aid or a real drug store for about $2 a gallon or less. The chemicals in tap water can affect the item and that is difficult to predict. As previously mentioned, most early glues are water soluble, due to their makeup. I may also suggest using pyrex style glass baking dishes or good plastic trays to soak the item. Metal trays could introduce metal into the water which could also leave rust stains.

I have soaked some scrapbooks and other items and it always works well with those. I have also cleaned old engravings in a similar manner. Using a solution of 10 to 1 warm water to bleach can clean old book engravings. You cannot touch the engraving itself while wet as it will smear. You will see the engraving whiten, you remove and hang by a corner, let dry and it looks brand new. I have done this with quite a few 1840's to 1860's book engravings. This will not work with old magazines or newspapers. You need a special deacidification solution for those. This is only for engravings, not prints from books.
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