Preservation of a group of photos

[Plummiegirl]

My father during the latter part of WW2 'acquired' some 20+ photos of the Luftwaffe.  They are about 2 1/2 x 3 1/2 inches in size.  Most of fairly good visual quality, but they are all curling up.  How do I flatten them?

Now I have known of these photos for over 50 years.  And only ever mentioned them twice to him.  Both times he just avoided/ignored my questions.  I think he 'liberated' them from either a dead soldier or a house etc.

I am going to try and scan 2 of them and then crop to show just the face of the pilot as I think he might be quite famous.  I know that the ground crew in some of the photos look completely in awe of him.

Anyway my look forward to hearing about how to flatten these pics.

Cheers  Plummie

[Emjaybee]

Removed.

Mike

[Plummiegirl]

Yeah I thought of that.  Have some acid free tissue paper as well, so will give it a try.  Do own some very large/heavy tomes so hopefully it should work.

Great Minds eh?

[PrueM]

Hi Plummiegirl,

Flattening without humidification will almost certainly not work - and may damage the emulsion if the curling is sufficiently bad. 

You will need to humidify the photographs slightly to get them to uncurl before flattening them. Place them face up on a clean surface (such as a cutting board or biscuit tray) lined with baking paper.  Put this on a rack in your oven.  Put a container of water in the bottom of the oven.  Close the door.  Check on them from time to time, it will take a while, perhaps an hour or more, for them to start uncurling.

Once they have uncurled, take them out (touch at the edges only) and between two sheets of baking paper, make sure they are not glistening wet (if they are, let them air dry a bit), put them between several very flat layers of paper or cloth (such as tea towels) and then put some weight on top (a couple of books is sufficient - you don't need to squash them, just hold them flat).  Leave for a few days and then remove and place in an album of some kind so they don't re-curl.

Cheers
Prue

[John915]

Good morning,

Prue, I also have any no of photo's that size all curling, mostly kodak. Is that done with the oven on or off, if on what setting?

John915

[miagre1]

Hi John,

You just want them humidifying (quote Prue - you need to humidify) The paper needs to be VERY slightly damp.
(Prints curl because the emulsion contracts more than the paper when it dries out.)
Not wet as the fibres may be altered and the emulsion will crack as weight is applied.

The reason for putting them in an oven with of bowl of water is to make the oven interior humid.  Do not turn the oven on. The heat of the room will make the oven interior humid.

Don't use course cloth, don't use great weight. EASE them back. Don't try to flatten them dry. The paper is made of fibres and will shuffle about. The emulsion will not shuffle about.

[PrueM]

miagre has it 

Oven off.  Humidify only (i.e. allow humidity to build up in the oven which is a nice big sealed container - easiest way to find a sealed space to do it in.  You could use a large tray or clean plastic tub with a rack set up inside it and something on top for a lid, but I think the oven does a good job.

[John915]

Good evening,

Thanks Miagre1 and Prue, I suppose it was a stupid question really. Just was'nt sure whether you needed the moisture or a little steam.

John915