the perfect solution?
Everybody had them.
They were faux leather or vinyl, filled with lots of pages to house your photos, all covered with a protective top layer. Back in the day the Magnetic photo album was on everybody’s shelf.
The concept was simple: Pull up the protective layer and place your pictures onto the sticky page (pre glued for your convenience) in any arrangement, then place protective layer back down. Voila. No muss, no fuss.
Sounds perfect, right?
what went wrong?
Although the old magnetic photo albums were a convenient way to house all your photos, those pages were a nightmare.
Why?
Each page was coated in a sticky glue that would hold the photos in place. Although it made arranging and mounting easier, the after effects were disastrous.
First, the glue that was used was highly acidic, causing damage and eating away at the photos over time. Second, the longer the album sat and the glue dried , the stronger the bond between the page and the photo. This makes the photos all but impossible to remove without damage, tearing or delamination of the photo layers. And many times if the photo is able to be removed, it has a permanent curl.
In combination, the acidic glue and the chemicals in the plastic top sheet make a bad overall team. These old albums were not archival quality, nor were the proper materials used. Long term photo preservation was clearly not a priority for the companies that produced these products.
digital scanning is the way to go
Digital scanning really is the best way to preserve your old photos. They will be uploaded and stored online or in an external hard drive or flash drive. If you must scrapbook, use copies. Once photos are scanned digitally and are nice and safe, make sure you preserve the originals in an acid free, lignin free storage box, a photo safe, acid free album, or in archival envelopes.
So then how do you get these old photos out of the magnetic albums to scan?
There are a few ways to go about it.
**Remember, these are methods that may or may not work for you, depending on the severity of glue to photo bond. BE CAREFUL . Any attempt may cause damage to the photos, so be sure to take high resolution photos of your pictures and documents before attempting any removal process.**
hair dryer method
The thought behind this process is the hair dryer will warm up the glue on the pages, making it easier to peel away.
Set the dryer to low or warm, and direct the flow of air between the photo and the page. Use sweeping motions, taking care to not keep the hair dryer concentrated on one area for too long. This will keep the paper from burning or scorching.
As the glue starts to soften, you can combine this with the dental floss method.
dental floss method
Believe it or not dental floss can be extremely useful in helping to remove those stuck on photos!
Grab a piece of waxed floss and wrap around each index finger, leaving about a 6″ length to use as your “remover”.
Find a corner that will lift without resistance. Slip the floss underneath the corner and gently file back and forth. You want to use an easy and slow saw like motion. Be careful not to tug or lift while sawing, as that can damage the photo.
If you meet resistance, move to another corner and start the process from that angle. Eventually you should be able to file underneath the entire photo.
If the glue is too hard, try giving it a gentle blast of the hair dryer.
chemical help
When warm air and floss just aren’t cutting it, there is a product that some people swear by. You can find it online or in the scrapbooking section of many craft stores. These contain heptane, a chemical used to remove adhesive and stickers.
UN-DU is specially formulated and the acid free liquid is photo safe. There are videos on how to safely use the product .
Other Do’s and Dont’s for magnetic photo albums
- Take note of any inscriptions, captions or dates about the photos before removing.
- Don’t use sharp objects to try and pry the photos off the pages. You could rip or cut the photo on accident.
- Don’t force the photos out. If you have tried everything and they wont move, don’t force it. You will cause irreparable damage to the photo
- If the photo has been sitting in the albums for 50 or 60 years, chances are it will be impossible to remove them without damage. Leave the photos in the albums and do not try to remove.
- If you cannot get the photo out of the album, take a high resolution photograph of it with your phone or camera. It is the next best thing to the original, and better than having a damaged photo.
- Once you have removed any photos, scan them as quickly as possible. Once scanned, store in acid free, lignin free boxes, photo safe acid free albums or archival sleeves. If you are unable to scan right away, store properly (acid free, lignin free boxes and archival sleeves) until you are ready.
scrapbook pages and rubber cement
Old scrapbook pages were often heavy pieces of paper and photos adhered using rubber cement or other glue. If that is the case, the hair dryer and dental floss method probably wont work.
The chemical method is meant for a specific type of adhesive found on tape, stickers and labels, not dried glue like elmers, gorilla, rubber cement or crazy glue.
When dealing with paper and rubber cement, your best bet will be to just take a high resolution color photo of the original photo and then store the original album somewhere safe to help slow down any deterioration process.
Good luck in dealing with those old magnetic photo albums. Be careful and remember to store them properly for preservation purposes.
Happy Hunting!
