Do you have any of those peel and stick albums? You know the ones? We often call them magnetic albums; they were very popular in the 70's and 80's.
Technology and science have moved on a lot since then, and we now know that these albums are causing our photos to deteriorate more quickly.
Your photos are sandwiched in a chemical layer of acidic cardboard, non-photo safe glues and PVC plastic....
You may also find the photos are stuck solid in the albums, despite them being marketed originally as repositionable.
So, this is a ‘heads up’ for you to go check you albums and take steps to save your photos from fading!
You have 2 options
You can scan the photos in situ, on a flat bed scanner, and reprint them. This will take you a little time and some editing on a photo program such as Photoshop...
You can remove the photos from the album and redo in a new photo safe scrapbook album.
Steps to take when removing photos
- To test the stickiness of the album, pick a photo that you don’t mind sacrificing, and try seeing a corner gently.
- If it lifts easily, gently remove from the album
- If it is stuck more tightly get some plain dental floss and try working the thread under the edge of the photo to loosen it
- If this doesn’t work, you could try using a hair dryer on a low setting to soften the glue, then try again.
Make sure you label and categorise as you go, don’t wait until you have a whole album's worth of photos in a pile!