What to do if Your Documents Get Wet
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by: KemCarver
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Word Count: 510
Date: Wed, 4 Jan 2012 Time: 11:53 PM
It's one of those horrifying moments of panic when you spill a glass of water on an important document or when you drop it in a puddle or otherwise get it wet. Some documents are completely unique and highly important or valuable, and in these instances sometimes a copy just doesn't cut it or hold the same weight.
In such situations it's very important to act fast to save your papers and to minimize the damage. Thankfully paper document restoration exists to help you in restoring paper documents that re very important, but it's still important to do everything you can at first to minimize the damage that gets done.
First of all then you need to make sure that you immediately remove the documents from the source of the problem. If you've spilled water on the table then for instance you should instantly remove the document from the table before it gets saturated and to keep any untouched parts dry.
From here you then need to immediately tend to your documents. A common mistake is to hang documents from a clothes line, or to drape them over a radiator etc. To do so is a mistake because it means that gravity will act on the water and on the now-wet ink thus causing it to run and thus getting more of the document wet and smudged. Meanwhile draping papers over a radiator also means they become misshapen as well as creating a fire hazard.
It's important to keep the paper flat and horizontal and this way you can keep the water where it is and at the same time to dry and dry the water without it running. One way to do this is with a powerful lamp kept a safe distance from the paper but pointing directly at it. This will excite the water particles causing them to break their bonds and become steam where they will rise to lower pressure. This way the water will leave the documents directly. Another option is to use a low powered hair dryer.
Most important though is to use document restoration which might work by freeze frying documents you bring in. Document restoration that uses freeze drying documents essentially works by first freezing the water droplets slightly, and then using a vacuum in order to suck the ice particles out of the paper. This is like a much quicker and more efficient alternative to using the powerful lamp and means the paper remains flat and safe while at the same time completely removing any moisture from the paper.
Another thing to do is to make sure that you make a photograph or copy of the document as soon as possible. For instance if you spill water on your papers then remove them immediately, lie them flat, and then take a photo of them. This way if they become illegible or illegible in part before you get document restoration, you can at least refer to the photographs to make copies (using a scanner is not advisable if the paper is very wet).
About the Author
If you spill water then you will need document restoration. Follow the links to find out more about freeze drying documents.
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