9/25/2009
By Patti Swoboda
Your paper treasures may be in danger. Here's how to protect them.
Attics, garages and basements have long been popular places for storing news articles, letters, certificates and other precious documents. The irony is that these places can be very harmful environments for treasured keepsakes. Soaring and plummeting temperatures, hungry bugs and rodents and rays of sunlight all wreak havoc on unprotected documents. And dangerous storage places are just the tip of the destructive iceberg. Improper handling, poor paper content and other factors add to the rapid deterioration of paper heirlooms.
But as fragile as paper is, you can protect it. Once you identify preservation problems, taking action against them can add years to the life of your irreplaceable documents.
Identifying the enemy
Where are your heirloom documents? What could be hastening their deterioration? All these factors put your documents at risk: