Bloggeron

During a flood within the home, the “Big things come in small packages” rings oh so true. It is generally your little shoe box of photographs, ancient love letters, & marriage or birth certificated that is the first to get soaked.

As long as you take a level headed, calm approach to your document drying, you should not see any major losses.

The first thing you need to be aware of is that the pulp bond in the paper is going to be very weak when wet. This means that quickly picking up a document from a puddle could very well mean the end of that document. Instead, when you see a document submerged, slowly grasp it with both hands, from underneath if possible. When you feel that you have the document, you will want to gently lift it from the water. Until the entire document is out from the water, it is at high risk of being torn. Document drying is about being gentle and patient, and this is when those two skills matter most.

When you have lifted the document from the water, you will want to get it onto a dry surface that does not absorb moisture (do not place on carpets or towels). The If your document is two sided, you will want to pay particularly close attention Instead of laying the document down directly on the flat surface, try using a blow dryer on the underside to get the excess water off. This will help prevent the ink on the back from splotching. When doing document drying, always pay attention to the inks. If you notice ink on a document running, you should immediately get some air on it. This will help dry it off without increasing the running inks.

When you have all your documents lying down you can begin the drying process. The most common issue when document drying is curling corners. If you see your documents drying with a curl in the corners, use a paper weight to weigh down the corners and continue your document drying process.

At this point you can choose to air dry, blow dry, or blotch dry. Use blotching paper to get excess water off of your document quickly, but be sure to also perform your blotching evenly or your document drying will not work well.

If air drying, be sure to either monitor the documents drying, or weigh down all corners, regardless of whether they are rolling or not. While the moisture evaporates, the paper will curl if not weighted down.

Blow drying is probably the fastest, safest way of document drying. If you are using a fan, keep it on the lowest setting, and approx. 2-3 feet away from the documents. Make sure to rotate the documents. You will want to move them clockwise all the way around, as well as flip them over to dry the backs properly, and evenly.

Document drying is a very easy process if you take your time to be careful, while being quick as to prevent long term damage. You may see the water marks for the life of the document, but proper document drying will preserve it through the damaging affects of flooding.