Preserve Your Artwork And Important Papers Today

Have you ever come across a book or a piece of paper so old that there is not even a speck of white paper left to see? There are so many people who absolutely love how the books smell and feel, and love the smell of old books even more than anything else.

But sadly, this old book smell or the antique yellowed or brown paper look is not beneficial for the book in any way. This usually points to formation of acid in papers when they come in contact with environmental factors such as heat moisture or sunlight.

But if you are looking for some ways to protect your books, important documents or even your art, then this article is for you. At ThunderBolt paper, we are particularly keen in helping preserve everything that is made of paper that we can preserve.

Here are a few ways you can prevent  paper from deteriorating

Start with acid free

While there is little you can do about the paper that may already be aging or yellowing on your shelves, you can ensure that you do not face a similar problem in the near future.

Begin by choosing acid free paper for all your important documents books or craft work that you wish to preserve at least for your lifetime.

If you are aiming at preserving a paper made product for the even longer than your lifetime, you may very well views archival grade paper that lasts hundreds of years.

Surrounding materials matter too

So even if you were maybe using acid free paper, that isn't completely enough to preserve it. Anything that comes in contact with your artwork needs to be archival grade so that there is no chance of acid formation.

So paper can become acidic because of the surrounding materials and products, which may mean the adhesive or the mounting board too. Everything, including the handling the art or document with gloves to not transfer any oil or dirt from hands to the paper.

Mind the sun

You might have already noticed, and that whatever gets left out in the sun tends to lose its regular color. The same thing may happen to paper products over time if they come directly in contact with bright sunlight, making it lose it's color, look faded or even become discolored with time.

So the thing that you need to keep in mind about protection from the direct sunlight. You can also invest in UV protection glass for your photos and important art work that is on display. This glass can help reflect harmful sunlight and protects whatever is underneath from fading.

Moisture is not good

If you allow moisture or humidity to see pen your house around the paper work art or craft paper storage, you can very well be causing irreversible damage. Moisture tends to cause paper to get curled or fold from the corners or molding over paper, leading up to further degradation of paper.

The best way to preserve your books or paper-based materials or artwork is by displaying them in an acid-free environment or frames in a moisture free room. If you need to store paper then make sure you create a dark and dry environment so as to preserve them as long as possible.

Coating does not help

You may think that having a coating over paper make heap it from environmental or gradual degradation, but that isn't possible. Is environmentally harmful conditions such as moisture direct heat or mold can still damage the paper.

In fact, many substances that are used to treat paper for different purposes such as bright surface or glossy finish can interact with the environment to become yellow or brittle after some time. Many types of paper such as cardstock are coated with clay, which is highly sensitive to water or high humidity and causes degradation to the paper.

The solution remains in the treatment and storage of coated paper in order to preserve their original form.

There are many aspects of paper production that can be taken under consideration while going through the process of preservation of paper. We are looking forward to hearing your views on the above article in the comments or any of our social media platforms. Have you tried preserving paper products?