Antique Photos

Personal pictures are important, and once they begin to age they require special care. You need to know how to take care of your antique photos, and there are a lot of products on the market that can help you preserve your family’s legacy. Take the time and learn how to care for them, so you’ll have years of enjoyment for you, and others that come after.

Prints that are color or black and white can be damaged by a lot of things. Antique photos are very prone to damage by heat, moisture and direct light. Any type of excessive heat, whether dry or moist, will rot your photos. Edges will curl with and discoloration will turn your photos a nasty shade of yellow. Sometimes, antique photos will dry rot, and crumble in your hands from hot dry temperatures.

When you are storing them don’t put them in a cheap photo album that has glue based adhesives to keep your pictures secure. The glue seeps through from the back through and ruins it. Also, when you store antique photos write important information with a pencil that is a hard based lead. Other types of pens or pencils will leak through. Always store your antique photos in a high quality album that has polypropylene. This type of plastic is very sturdy and chemically secure. Store any left over albums in a cool and very dry area.

If you don’t want to store it, but want to proudly display it in your home or office, make sure to do it wisely. Cheap frames don’t have the necessary protections built in to hang your old antique photos. Matting and spacers are very important. The matting should be of acid and lignin properties, so your picture will not be damaged. Spacers protect the antique photos because they’re not shoved up against the glass.

Also, if you decide to hang your images, use a few other precautions. Never hang a print in direct sunlight, or any other type of lighting source. It’s important too to place it away from register vents that cool and heat your house or business. Light and temperatures will destroy it over time, and your keepsake will be forever lost. Don’t take the chance because negatives for older antique photos often don’t exist, or are damaged.

Old photographs have a place in the future because it’s a part of you. Respect the past, and know that once you learn how to care for them, you’re actively leaving a bit of yourself. Antique photos tell future generations who we were, and how we lived our lives. It shows us face to face that history can be seen over and over again. It’s worth the effort to preserve it.