Does anybody have a suggestion how to repair old certificates that were rolled up for decades such as birth certificates or school diplomas which are torn and every time it gets unrolled it tears more? I have a few that I would like to copy but don't know how to get them to lay flat without tearing more so I can copy them. They scare me! Please help. Thank you.

This is not official but is one thing I have done in the past in such a situation. First I would not try to unroll them yet, but put them on a shelf or out of the way in the bathroom and let them absorb some moisture from showering. then after a week or so test them for flexibility and if they will unroll lay them flat and press between some poster board with some weight on top for a couple of weeks and see how that works out. If they are rare or valuable documents I would ask a professional conservator before trying any do it yourself method. On Wed, Apr 21, 2010 at 1:07 PM, Ruth Madar <deerhardt@verizon.net> wrote: > Does anybody have a suggestion how to repair old certificates that were > rolled up for decades such as birth certificates or school diplomas which > are torn and every time it gets unrolled it tears more? I have a few that > I would like to copy but don't know how to get them to lay flat without > tearing more so I can copy them. They scare me! Please help. Thank you. > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > NYERIE-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes > in the subject and the body of the message >