Caring for your Albums and Books

Fabric, paper and paper products are best kept away from strong light (natural or artificial) and in an airy environment with low humidity levels (not damp). For those of us in Asia this can be a challenge. We recommend to our Asian clients if at all possible to keep their albums and books in shelves in an area that is not exposed to strong lights and that does have some air movement like a hallway.

Locations where there is no air movement and high humidity levels (some wardrobes, cupboards) and no air con in the humid months can cause problems. Equally, book shelves in a room that receive strong natural light are not conducive to long shelf life. Ideally, keep the albums in their boxes to prevent exposure to light and dust, but not in a humid location. Storing the item in it’s box also prevents the album from being crammed into a shelf where non interleaved pages can carry the risk of photos sticking to each other.

Keeping your album or book on display for a while is not going to create major problems. Long term storage in a hot and humid room with strong light will.

We are more than happy to provide specific information on this issue to our clients given our experience of life in the tropics. Please contact us if you need assistance.

If it is at all necessary to clean the paper use a high quality clean eraser such as Staedtler and rub in one direction only. This can also be applied to the bookcloth to freshen it up, especially the light coloured cloths.

For scuff marks on fabric and bookcloth try brushing gently with a clothes brush, a suede brush or unused clean shoe brush.

For marks on the fabric try to remove with a spot remover having first tested on an inconspicuous area on the inside back cover for colourfastness.

We like to use archival quality pressure sensitive photo corners or tabs as we find they are best for long term use in our humid Asian climate. Some of our customers happily use glue sticks or glue dispenser rolls but over the years in a humid environment they may not stay in place.

We’ve spent years putting photos in albums for our customers and ourselves so we ve got the perfect no fuss solution. If you’re using photo corners the trick is that the photo has to be held in place neither too tightly otherwise it pops out or too loosely otherwise it slides out but just neat and snug. We achieve this by keeping the photo flat on the page and in position with a weight.

Our album pages are all scored along the grain direction of the paper so that they fold flat and without creasing or cracking. The folds need to be gently folded on their score lines and over the post binding when you open the album for the first time.

To attach with corners place your photo in position on the page and then place a weight on top to hold it there. Paper weights are ideal but you can easily use a clean can of food or other household item. If you’re placing a few photos on the page and you prefer not to work by eye you can use a set of point dividers (available from stationery shops quite cheaply) to quickly position the photos correctly. Work by eye if you’re only placing one photo per page, it’s easy and not noticeable if the photo is not in perfect alignment.

If using corners lift gently the side of the photo whilst it’s still being kept in place by the paper weight and place the photo corner on to its photo corner and push down in position. Do the other 3 sides then place some tissue paper or something similar over the photo to protect it from finger prints and scratches and apply pressure to the pressure sensitive corner or tab so that it adheres properly. You can use the handle of a knife, a ruler or for the expert paper folders amongst us, a bone folder, to apply pressure. Pressure sensitive means that you have to apply pressure to have them stick and stay in place. It’s not enough to just place them and give a light rub. You can use tissue paper or similar to protect the photos from picking up finger prints.

If using tabs do exactly the same but place the tabs on the underside corner of the photo whilst still keeping it in position with a weight.

When placing photos on the first few undersides of the opening pages it’s helpful to have a flat surface to work on. We use the box lid to keep the pages level whilst putting the photos in.