I have been successfully (I hope) using my glass-door shower stall as a
rehumidifcation chamber for rolled paper items. After a shower I lay an
impermeable material (a piece of mylar) on the built-in seat in the shower.
I then lay a clean towel on that, then the rolled item. I close the door to
the shower and check on it a few hours later. By that time, it is usually
relaxed enough to enable me to unroll it a bit without cracking it. I then
close the door again and continue that process. I sometimes need to put it
in again after the next day's shower, to be able to completely relax it. Of
course, the item does not stay in when we shower in there.
   I read of rehumidifying chambers that can be made with clean plastic
trash cans, with a small amount of warm/hot water in the bottom and an
elevated, perforated, non-metal material above that, that makes a perforated
shelf on which the item rests. I don't remember exactly how the shelf was
constructed, but it may have been with a couple of bricks supporting some
plastic, rigid screening that fits snugly inside, so that no part of the
item can touch the water. The lid of the container is kept on until the item
has relaxed enough, of course.
Lynne


----- Original Message -----
From: "Kimberly Kenney, Curator" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, December 11, 2003 11:32 AM
Subject: unrolling photographs


> Someone came in and asked me for advice on unrolling
> some large photographs in his personal collection that
> have been stored that way for decades.  He says that
> when he tried to unroll some of them, they are brittle
> and start to crack.
>
> He is looking for a "home method" he can do himself.
> He is not interested in finding a paper conservator
> (which was my first suggestion) and he is not planning
> to give the photos to us as a donation.
>
> What advice can I offer him that can be replicated at
> home, yet still not damage his photos?
>
> You can respond on or off list.
>
> Kim Kenney
>
> PS -- I understand the value of professional
> conservation, so no soap boxes please.  That is not a
> route he is willing to take.
>
> =====
> Kimberly A. Kenney, Curator
> McKinley Museum
> 800 McKinley Monument Dr. NW
> Canton OH 44708 * 330-455-7043
> Visit the Ohio Memory Project at http://www.ohiomemory.org
> "Let us ever remember that our interests are in concord, not conflict; and
that our real eminence rests in the victories of peace, not those of
ar."  --25th United States President William McKinley
>
>
> __________________________________
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> New Yahoo! Photos - easier uploading and sharing.
> http://photos.yahoo.com/
>
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