What's happening to my pictures?

[Ron]

Probably a combination of the paper type (since no other pictures are like this) and environment. Place a humidity gauge down stairs and see what the humidity is, if it is above 60% you may need some form of dehumidifier

[D. Bergin]

Yeah, you'd be surprised how damp a basement can get without knowing it. In our last house, we never had any flooding but I think there was a high water table and we had the dehumidifier running 24/7, every day of the year. Even during the driest winter months it would suck a couple gallons of water out of the air every day. During the summer it would fill up a 35 gallon bucket every few days. This is interior Connecticut, not some Louisiana bayou town or something. Basement was unfinished, but still, that's a lot of water just sitting in the air.

[cracker_jack]

Thanks all. Humidity is 62% from a gauge placed there yesterday. Is there a simple way to clean the prints to get the soil marks off of them?

[Ron]

Depending on your collectible type Humidity should be less than 60%. Wood antiques should be about 50-55%. If it is mostly paper stuff you are worried about try to get it less than 50% (40-45%) but the lower you go the more uncomfortable it is to be in that environment for you. I think if you can get it no higher than 50% you should be okay for most collectible types. If most of your stuff is in one smaller room and not the whole basement a small room dehumidifier would work

[JMEnglish27]

Originally Posted by cracker_jack

Thanks all. Humidity is 62% from a gauge placed there yesterday. Is there a simple way to clean the prints to get the soil marks off of them?

I mention this only because it worked for me on an inexpensive item that was white like these are...so please use extreme caution if these are of great value.

A LIGHT rubdown with a Magic Eraser. The kitchen/bathroom sponge thingy. I wouldn't wet it before use obviously. Just a gentle couple swipes and you should be able to tell if it's going to help at all.