Indiana University South Bend

Salvage Assessment of Water Damaged Materials

Ninety-five percent of all disaster damage will be the result of water. In most instances of water damage, the first decision to make will be whether to air dry or freeze materials. The following section gives criteria for decision making as well as the instructions for carrying out the drying and freezing of water-damaged materials.

• Wet edges only; do not need interleaving to soak up excess water; can be air dried.
• Cover drying surface with plain newsprint. Change newsprint as it becomes damp.
• Stand volume on its head (upside down) and fan open slightly. Paperbacks and other books that will not stand on their own may be braced with wooden blocks or other non-metallic supports. Position volumes in path of circulating air, but do not blow fan directly on wet paper as this will cause pages to wrinkle.
• When almost dry, lay the volumes flat and place weights (not other drying books) on them to minimize distortion. Do not use mechanical presses.
• Light-weight, single signature pamphlets may be hung on lines of monofilament to dry. Make lines no more than 5-6 feet long and space at least 1/2" apart.

• Wet beyond the edges, but not soaked through; may require some interleaving; can be air dried.
• Interleaving is used to soak up excess moisture in books to speed the air drying process. Use only plain newsprint, white paper towels, or polyester web when interleaving.
• Begin in front and work toward center, placing interleaving sheets every 50 pages or so (25 leaves), in such a way that the book can stand upright on its head when done. Repeat working from back to center.
• Change interleaving frequently, placing new sheets at different places from the last, and in such a way that the book can be turned to stand on the opposite end with each change.
• When interleaving sheets no longer come out wet, continue air drying as for slightly damp volumes.

• Wet to some degree throughout, but not saturated and dripping; can be air dried or frozen for later air drying; will require interleaving.
• These materials will probably be frozen for later freeze drying or, if the number is very small, for air drying.
• When materials are to be air dried, interleave as for damp volumes. Wet paper tears very easily, so care must be taken. The procedure will be much the same for interleaving and air drying damp volumes -- it will just take longer. Be on the alert for mold.

• Cover drying surface with plastic sheeting then absorbent paper. Paper should be changed as it becomes wet and removed from the drying area to prevent increase in humidity.
• Do not open saturated volumes. Wet paper is fragile.
• Stand volumes on their heads (upside down) and let water drain from books. When changing the paper beneath books, reverse the standing position each time.
• Covers may be opened slightly to support volumes
• Waxed paper may be placed between the cover and end sheet to prevent staining from cover material dyes.
• When most of the water has drained off, proceed with interleaving as for wet volumes.

Do not allow wet books with coated stock paper to dry in a closed state as the pages will permanently bond together. Keep volumes wet (packed in plastic?lined containers) or submerged until pages can be separated. If air drying, interleaving must be placed between every leaf. Freeze drying is preferred. Before freezing, several sheets of interleaving may be inserted at intervals throughout the text block to help wick out the moisture during the freeze drying process.

Remove muddy volumes from recovery area, preferably outside. Keep book tightly closed and hold it under clean, cold running water, letting the running water carry off the dirt. Remove as much mud as possible from the binding by dabbing gently with a sponge. Do not rub or use brushes, and do not sponge the pages or their edges, as these actions can force mud into the binding or paper and cause further damage. Squeeze the book gently and with even pressure to remove excess water and to reshape binding. Freeze or air dry according to degree of wetness.

Do not wash open or swollen volumes, vellum or parchment bindings, full or partial leather volumes, fragile or brittle books, books with water soluble components (inks, tempera, water colors, dyes, charcoal, etc.), works of art on paper, or manuscripts.

Mold and mildew can develop within 48 to 72 hours in an environment where the temperature is over 75 degrees and the humidity is over 60%. Materials that have begun to mold should be separated from other materials to prevent contamination. They may be frozen to inhibit further growth and to await treatment by a conservator.

In general wet photographs should be air dried or frozen as quickly as possible. Films (plastic base materials) appear to be more stable than prints; therefore, prints should be salvaged first.

• Separate photographs from their enclosures, frames, and from each other. If stuck together or adhered to glass, set them aside for freezing and consult a conservator.
• Allow excess water to drain off the photographs.
• Spread the photographs out to dry, face up, laying flat on absorbent material such as blotters, unprinted newsprint, paper towels, or a clean cloth.
• Photographs may curl during drying. They can be flattened later.

• Frozen photographs are best dried by thawing, followed by air drying. As a group of photographs thaws, individual photographs can be carefully peeled from the group and placed face up on a clean, absorbent surface to air dry.
• Vacuum thermal drying is not recommended for photographs.
• Vacuum freeze drying may be used, though gelatin photographs may mottle during the procedure.
• Wet collodion glass plates must never be freeze-dried; they will not survive. This is true for all similar collodion processes such as ambrotypes, collodion lantern slides, and tintypes.

• Slides can be rinsed and dipped in "Photo-flo," slide cleaner, or a similar commercial product and air dried, preferably hung on a line or propped on edge.
• Ideally slides should be removed from their frames for drying and then remounted.
• Slides mounted between glass must be removed from the glass or they will not dry.

• It may be cheaper to replace service copies than to salvage them, but master negatives may be irreplaceable and salvage the only option.
• Put rolls of microfilm in water-tight containers and fill with clean, cold water.
• Send to microfilm processor within 72 hours for washing and drying. (See appendix of supplies and suppliers).

• Microfiche can be separated and air dried with some success, but are prone to water spotting and scratching, so results are usually less than good. It is probably best to replace.

Water is especially damaging to magnetic media. The longer they have been wet, the greater the damage will be. Success rates for salvage of magnetic media are extremely low and the process is labor-intensive. If media are dried and saved, they can still cause damage to play-back equipment. A good rule of thumb to follow is not to attempt salvage of commercially available tapes and disks. Replacement may ultimately be cheaper. For unique magnetic media, the following may be attempted.

• Break open cassettes.
• Wash tape in clean or distilled water if dirty.
• Air dry on sheets of unprinted newsprint.
• Re-record.

• Carefully slit open disk jacket and remove disk.
• Rinse off any dirt in clean, tepid water.
• Fan dry by hand (do not use blow dryer).
• When crisis is over, insert the disk into a new jacket (cannibalized from a new disk; this can be reused) and copy with a disk drive. The drive heads should be cleaned frequently.

• Remove disks from sleeves and jackets.
• If labels have separated, mark center of disk with grease pencil and save label to dry like other paper materials.
• Wash disks in distilled water, following the circular grooves of the record.
• Dry thoroughly, again following the grooves, with cheesecloth or other soft, lint-free cloth, or air dry on supports that permit free circulation of air.
• Jackets may be dried as other paper materials.
• Discard plastic album covers.

• Hold disc by outer edges.
• Working out from the center in a straight line, wipe off water or dirt with cheesecloth or other soft, dry cloth.

• Loose papers can be dried by spreading them on clean absorbent (unprinted newsprint) flat surfaces in areas where there is good air circulation. Cover with non-woven polyester web if necessary to keep them from blowing away. Do not attempt to flatten; that can be done later if needed.
Where the information on the page is the only value, damaged documents need only be dried enough to be handled and photocopied.
• If the number of documents is quite large, or if their value is such that individual attention will be required, the items should be frozen as found. Do not remove from file cabinet drawers, document cases or folders; do not turn containers upside down to empty or drain.
• A stack of wet unbound papers can be separated, but the process takes great care and is very time consuming:
• Place a sheet of polyester film on top of the stack.
• Rub gently with a bone folder. Surface friction will cause the wet paper to adhere to the film.
• Peel back the top sheet and place it on top of a piece of polyester web.
• Remove the polyester film.
• Place wet sheet, supported by the polyester web, on unprinted newsprint on a flat surface and air dry as above.