Salvaging Flood or Water-Damaged Photos

Disclaimer: These suggestions have been posted at the request of area residents in an effort to help you save and preserve photographs that may have been damaged by water. They come with no guarantees and should be attempted at your own risk. Please feel free to call us for suggestions specific to your incident. (800) 279-4726 (701) 258-4726 or email: info@bobsphoto.com

First, inventory your damages

Get to them as soon as possible and determine what type of prints they are, if they can be salvaged [more info], and how many you will need to accommodate. Remove from albums and frames. You may have to abandon some less-desirable snapshots to devote your time to other more important prints. Framed prints should be made a priority as they will begin to form mold or stick to the glass.

If they're wet, keep them wet

Prints that have been partly or totally submerged should be kept in water temporarily until you have time to properly dry them. Transfer them into tubs of fresh, clean water (recirculating if possible) and dispose of any less-permanent prints that have bled. Then you can take your time sorting, cleaning and drying them properly.

§Tip: Adding a small amount of PhotoFlo (a wetting agent commonly used in darkrooms) to the water bath can help eliminate water spots when drying later.

Freeze them for later?

If you can't devote the time and space to drying them now, some people recommend freezing them to preserve them until time allows for further action. The idea is to prevent mold, mildew and further deterioration from submersion. If you choose to do this, separate prints or groups with wax paper and seal them in ziplock bags with limited excess water inside. Attempt this at your own risk and be aware that old or brittle prints could crack as a result of expansion and contraction.

If they're only moist, begin immediately

Keep clean moist towels at hand use them to blot or gently wipe the print surfaces clean. Be very careful not to rub too hard or the emultion will come up. Clean as much of the dirty water or soil residue off as you can without damaging the surface. Lay flat to air dry or dry between clean paper towels.

Drying wet prints and negatives

Hanging prints to dry is one method of keeping them clean and limiting water spots, but most color prints will curl severely if dried this way, usually permanently. It's best to avoid heat-drying, like with a hair dryer, for the same reason. A better method is to lay them flat or stack them with a couple layers of paper towels between rows. This should minimize curl and water spotting. Use blotting paper or paper towels without print if available and change frequently. Light spotting and dust can be cleaned from dried prints with a special solution like denatured alcohol or PEC-12 photo emultion cleaner. If you notice curling toward the end of the drying process, apply weight to minimize it.

Prints that are stuck together can sometimes be re-submerged and carefully separated.

Now what?

Once your prints are dry and free of soil and mildew you can breath a sigh of relief. You've rescued them from further damage. Now it's important to decide how you'll archive them for future generations. This should involve digitizing them. Inexpensive batch-scan services like our Shoebox Scanning at Bob's is the first step toward ensuring the safety of these newly recovered memories. Once scanned, you can easily distribute back up CD or DVDs and store them in multiple places. And high quality scanning opens the door to printing, restoring, creating and sharing the myriad of photo keepsakes that are now available. Our experts are ready to help.

Learn more about scanning | retouching & restoration | hardcover books | free web albums & sharing

If you'd like to share your own recovery tips, please email them to lab@bobsphoto.com and we'll post them here.