I know that life is busy. But there are “right” ways of doing things. So here are a couple of tips regarding taking care of important certificates, diplomas, legal documents, ownership titles, irreplaceable children’s art, heirlooms, important photos…
1. making a scrapbook or photo album the right way the first time will save you so much time later… and it can be super easy.
2. Remember, “archival” doesn’t mean that it needs to win an award for design and creativity.
3. All you need is to store these items with correct materials. For example, a photo album at Walmart is acid-free and utilizes the correct kind of plastic. It costs $10! You can fill it with your photos in less than 10 minutes, and there you go!… archival storage.
An example fell into my lap which illustrates what will happen if you ignore my advice! You don’t need to me underwater from a flood or blown to OZ in a hurricane. Natural disasters are not the only ways your precious memories can be damaged.
This could have easily been avoided
Case in point! Here is a photo album of photo memories and certificates that was in a cardboard box that got wet on the driveway during a move. My writings and info included in How To Save Your Stuff From A Disaster can help you prevent this from happening. And if it does happen, I can help salvage the photos and help to save valuable info.. In this case, not everything could have been saved but it could have been a lot less catastrophic.
For a copy of “How To Save Your Stuff From A Disaster” click now, on http://www.saveyourstuffblog.com/productssupplies/
Actually it did happen to me before when my house was destroyed by a strong typhoon. I never thought that would happen to me but thanks to you…I know now how to prevent that to happening again.
You know what… You are amazing because you are offering free tips and its really rare for a great site like this to offer free stuff so I will give you two thumbs up for having a friendly user site.
Good advice on how to protect your valuables from disasters #floods #hurricane #quake #fire RT @best_artdoc on Twitter
MariRamosCNN on Twitter
You are right. Damage is easier to avoid if we have done something to prepare before the disaster happens.
Great advice and it really make sense. I love other people’s comments and questions and I can see they think the same thing.
Thanks for the free sign up thing. I love you books. Your testimonials are great.
Everyone should have a copy of this book. It so useful even without a disaster. This will benefit everyone since we all know that we dont know what will happen next. All I can say about the article is; very well said, easy to understand and 100% true.
I just signed up for the free tips that you are offering and I already post it on my twitter so my 1 thousand followers will sign up as well. I want them to realize the importance about this site.
I Googled “water damage” and got your site… but my water damage is not with paper but with a piece of furniture that got wet.
I had a flood problem from an overflowing toilet while we were away for the weekend. Water poured from our upstairs and settled in a storage area in the basement. I need advice on how to save a very special piece of furniture that my father made for me before he passed away. It is a blanket chest and does not have any type of finish on it. Right now it seems that the outside of the wood is what is the problem. A few of the things inside got damp but not a lot of water made it inside.
Can you please advise asap?!.
Thank you
Tammy Ballantine
Tammy, the most important thing to do when something gets wet is to get the air flowing. So set up some fans asap. If you don’t have adequate fans, go rent some. Carpet dryers work great. BUT DON’T take the furniture outside in the sun for a quick force dry. It will probably crack or warp the wood. Once the wood appears dry in a few days, then clean off any surface junk from the water with a rubbing down of some clear shoe polish. That might also minimize the visibility of a water stain. Since your unfinished wood may look different where you’ve applied the wax, you may want to rub the whole piece down lightly. The reason I’m suggesting the clear shoe polish is that it won’t impart any color, its easy to find and you already know how to use it. If I recommended a specialty product for furniture, you might be intimidated and not follow through. Good luck.
Please refer our website and publications to other friends! The downloads are free.
It’s been very interesting to read your blog here at saveyourstuffblog.com. I want to quote your posts in my blog. Can I do that? And do you have an account on Twitter?
Lillian,
Glad you find the info we post interesting. If you have any suggestions about things we should write about, email me at scott@saveyourstuff.com. Go ahead and quote our posts on your blog freely but please give us credit and a link would be nice. Yes, we have two Twitter accounts: “best_artdoc” and “Save Your Stuff.” We also have several Facebook pages: “Save Your Stuff”, “Tips for art collectors”, “Fine art conservation” and others… if you want to know more, ask me.
Hi Scott: So lovely to hear from you! I’ve signed up for the Preservation Tips and thank you for this helpful information … it is much appreciated. You really are the best!
Warmest regards to all,
Cherry.
Hi, great stuff/info. Do you have a Myspace page?
Hi Milly,
Yes, I have a MySpace page. Look up “Preservation Coach” let’s connect!
Hi Guys,
I would just like to thank saveyourstuffblog.com for the great info. We sell art prints and often talk to people about how to take care of them. There’s great info on this blog and I’ll refer people to it!
I signed up for the updates whenever you add to your blog so, thank you for keeping us up-to-date. I really appreciate it and discover all of the information very useful.
This one is an excellent article, I discovered your website through Google. I bookmarked your website for furture infomation, thanks.
Wow! Wonderful post and great advice. Thanks for sharing valuable information. I hope, this post will be of help to our clients.
Azizul, I noticed you are located in Las Vegas and Hendersen. We provide consultation and restoration assistance with art related objects that disaster response company’s don’t want to handle. Can you email me so I can contact you for an introduction? faclartdoc@gmail.com or 805 564 3438. Thanks for leaving your comment. Scott M. Haskins