I have a lot of old photo albums from my parents. All at least 50+ years. Acid is starting to get to them and I would like to know if there is a solution that I can use to slow down the process? I have taken them off of the paper they were mounted on, but would like to do more if possible. Thanks Chris

ChrisGW wrote: > I have a lot of old photo albums from my parents. All at least 50+ > years. Acid is starting to get to them and I would like to know if there > is a solution that I can use to slow down the process? I have taken them > off of the paper they were mounted on, but would like to do more if > possible. > > Thanks > Chris > I assume these are so-called "snapshots" and are black and white, not studio photographs. If so, your problem may be more than the acid paper in the albums. It might be (and probably is) caused by insufficient washing at the end of the printing process. The last step in processing b/w before final washing is "fixing" in a solution of sodium thiosulfate. The fixing bath removes the part of the print emulsion that was not processed by the developer (i. e., the parts that weren't fully exposed), which would soon make the print useless if left in place. Unfortunately, the thiosulfate that is left on the print will eventually destroy the image; thus, a fairly long washing period is required as the final step. If this is your problem, you can wash the prints in tap water at normal room temperature for at least a half hour, changing the water every five minutes. The downside of rewashing is that, if the prints were glossy they are going to dry to a matte finish. Early Polaroid prints right from the camera were especially known for fading, but reprints made by Polaroid were, as far as my experience goes, very stable. Now, if you are talking about _color_ prints, that is a different issue that I can't help you with; perhaps someone else will have advice about those. I don't know how many prints you have, but you really should investigate getting them copied; if you have just a few, it would probably be better to have them copied commercially, but for a large number you might want to buy a good scanner and editing software for your computer. If you take the DIY option, you could either make prints yourself or have them printed by one of the many shops that do this sort of work; places like Costco do pretty good work and would probably be cheaper and longer lasting than printing at home. As you may have gathered,I've been in the same place you are in, but soe of mine were around 100 years old. I hope that you can salvage as least the most important images before it's too late. Good luck! Allen