This past weekend saw massive flooding in the American Midwest. Unfortunately, we were contacted by several clients who had intended to “someday” get their film and video transferred and edited, but now own flooded media. Here are some tips to salvage your water damaged photos, video tapes, and film reels.
Salvaging Photos
If your photos get wet and stuck together, soaking them briefly in cold water will allow you separate them without ripping, but will still cause damage. This method is recommended by the National Archive. Please see their site for very detailed instructions on photo restoration after a flood.
Although many people recommend freezing papers after a flood, the National Archive recommends against this practice for old photos. Do not touch the surface of the photos. Air dry them individually, changing blotting material underneath as it gets wet.
They also recommend drying framed items with the glass side down if they appear to be stuck to the glass.
Salvaging Film and Video
Do not attempt to play back a film reel or video cassette to see if it’s really damaged. Even if you get it to play, you will dirty the play heads on your camera and possibly stretch the tape, causing further damage.
Film reels can be air dried with some success. Frequently water stains will occur toward the outer edges of the frame, depending on how the reel sat in the water.
Video tape (VHS, 8mm, VHS-C, and mini-DV) can be also air dried, but the case must be opened to achieve this. This procedure is a bit tricky, but doable. First, get a Tupperware-type container for each tape and find a clean, well-lit surface for this project.
Next, you need to get a set of jewelry screwdrivers. This is a set of very tiny screw drivers available from most hardware stores. Turn the videotape over so that the side with the screws is facing up. Depending on the type of tape, you will have four or five screws to unfasten. Put the screws into the container; they’re tiny and will scatter if you sneeze near them.
Important, do not attempt to disassemble the tape as soon as you unscrew it or you will have ten million tiny things flying all over your table. Hold the cassette tightly closed with your hands, flip it over, and set it back down on the table.
Next, carefully open the flap which protects the tape and raise the cover from the spools. You should be left with something looking like this:
Depending on the type of tape, the spools will be held in place by one to three springs and will be guided through the cassette case by hard plastic gates, or flimsy ones which float away if you look at them funny. You need all these parts.
At this point in our surgery, I recommend taking a photo of the tape guts. This way you won’t have to guess when you attempt to reassemble your tape. Now that you have your photo, and all the tiny pieces safely stored in the Tupperware, you can begin to air dry your spool of tape.
Gently unwind lengths of tape, let them dry, and wind onto the other spool. This is a painstaking process, but should save your tape.
For more intricate details on salvaging water damaged collections, see this newsletter from Conservation Online.
Proper storage of Photos, Film and Video
For the absolute most detailed instructions on photo storage, the best resource is the Kodak Technical Data and Reference Sheet on the Storage and Care of Kodak Photographic Materials. The sheet is a treasure trove of information on short and long term photographic storage.
For information on film and video storage, see my blog post on How to Preserve and View Your Old Home Movies.
The most important points in storage of photos, film, and video is to keep everything cool, dry, and away from light. This means out of the attic and basement. Do not seal your memories in a plastic tub, as the slightest bit of moisture in that tub will turn into mold. Metal storage containers protect your items from the light, still have air flow, but will not protect from water.
As our client learned the hard way this weekend, even setting your tapes in a plastic tub on a shelf in the basement is not good enough. The thought was that, in the event of a flood, the tub would float. Unfortunately, although it floated at first, it was not perfectly balanced, and hence flipped over.
Once you have salvaged your materials, it’s important to do something with them. The deterioration process of your photos and video will most likely speed up now that they have been exposed to both water and air. Scan the photos to digital files and capture the videos to a hard drive. You can then back them up appropriately and edit them when you’re ready.
{ 2 trackbacks }
{ 1 comment }
I’ve recently started a blog, the information you provide on this site has helped me tremendously. Thank you for all of your time & work.
Comments on this entry are closed.