Old Photograph Albums

[Zeuhl]

I am rescuing a great number of old photographs from some cheapo albums of the 1970s and 80s.

You may know the type of album; ring binder, pages have thin lines of adhesive running across to hold the photos in place, with a thin plastic overlay that also sticks to the page.

The issue is that on some pages the photographs have peeled away from the page easily, on others they are stuck more firmly and I risk danmaging the picture.

I have considered testing heat, steam or a solvent but don't want to use anything that would itself damage the photographs.

Anyone had any experience (and hopefully success) with this situation?

Thanks in advance.

[Zacs-Master]

http://www.scanmyphotos.com/blog/2016/08/removing_photos_from_sticky_photo_albums.html

[David H]

Yes I have the same thing. You just need to find the loosest corner and slowly pull it from the glue. You will find it slowly and gradually peels off and just pull at the loosest part till they come off. I've never torn one yet.

[Zeuhl]

Thank you David and Zacs for the advice; floss and hairdryer it is then...

[ZebbyUK]

From reading part of that link posted by Zacs-Master, I think I'd remove the pages from the album and scan them into a computer. Scanners are very cheap now if you've not got one, I picked my scanner up for £60 a couple years ago and it also scans negatives in.

This way you can duplicate the files with ease and even print new copies out.

[Khandro]

Water should not harm photographs, they were once, after all, washed in water to remove the dev. and fix. I would try taking an unimportant one and try soaking it for a while in water and see if it will peel off the backing.

[Zeuhl]

good point khandro; i'll try that if the floss doesn't work

that's true zebby; that's why i want them unstuck, they're a bit unwieldy in the scanner fixed to the cardboard pages :-)

[bhg481]

If you use water you might lose the gloss off the photos (if they are glossy) but that's no great loss. The last time I messed about developing photos was about 50 years ago and in those days after washing they were dried on a heated glazing drum.