The term “acid-free” has become the hallmark for preservation quality materials to the mass consumer. The ubiquitous term is now so synonymous with the idea of doing something good with your family treasures that, as a result, it’s actual meaning and application have been lost. Certainly, most folks aren’t aware of what it DOES mean when something is supposed to be acid-free or how it is a good thing.
But it’s not their fault. In many cases the archiving term is not only incorrectly used, but it is carelessly tossed around by manufacturers as if somehow merely invoking its name in some fashion makes everything okay. Worse yet, it has become a deliberate ploy by some manufacturers to get people to buy their products, which is wrong for both the consumer AND the item being protected.
When I first started working with one of my wonderful long-term clients, who just happens to have a treasure-trove of great family history documents, she presented me with several items that were carefully and lovingly placed inside 3-ring binder plastic sleeves that were obtained at a local office supply store. She was pleased about her early preservation efforts because the sleeves, according to the box, were “acid-free”. Upon completing the project, she now has many, many empty “acid-free” plastic document sleeves that she’s considering what to do with.
The fact is, there is MUCH MORE to the concept of acid-free and many other things to consider when doing some basic good to preserve the paper-based items that make up most family and business history. Below are 4 things to remember when getting ready to store your family treasures. But first, get the terminology right. Read on.
Three Archiving Terms to Understand:
Let’s set the record straight about terminology. Here are 3 specific things about acid-free that should help set the record, and your purchases, straight:
1. Paper must be involved. Acid-free is a specific type of paper-based product. In order for something to be acid-free, it should first be made of paper, be it file folders, tissue paper, boxes, you name it, and that paper has a neutral (or basic) PH balance of 7 (or slightly higher). Also, the material is sometimes buffered (shielded) with an alkaline layer to neutralize acids within the document or the space surrounding the item.
2. “Acid-free” for Plastics is irrelevant. Given that paper needs to be involved when discussing “acid-free” you can see where PLASTIC sleeves are incorrectly included in the category of acid-free products. A plastic sleeve can be acid-free, but the plastic that it is made from may contain other materials equally hazardous to your collection. There are safe plastics that are used for archiving materials – those are referred to as inert or stable. You can find the right one for your needs by searching one of the archiving and collection storage companies listed at the end of this article.
3. Archival Quality is more than just acid-free. It is also a bit misleading when the term archival quality is used interchangeably with acid-free. Paper items that are suitable to be used in professional archives (hence the name) are not only acid-free but are also lignin-free. Lignin is a naturally occurring, and self-destructive, material found in wood-pulp based papers. So just because something is acid-free does not mean that it is “archival quality”. Paper manufacturing is another blog entirely, but just note that acid-free and lignin-free offers true archival quality.
As an example, over time pulp-based paper self-destructs and the length of the paper fibers shorten making it brittle.
Add 
repeated folding and a document that is only 80 years old is literally falls apart (image at left). In contrast, the image on the right is of a 121-year old rag-based newspaper that looks almost new in spite of being repeatedly folded and without special storage considerations.
Getting Your Acid Out Isn’t Enough
But the thing is, even if something is acid-free and lignin-free it doesn’t automatically make it the perfect storage option and there are other things to consider when protecting your items.
Four Things to Consider to Properly Store Your Family Treasures:
1. Items Must be Separated. Most items benefit from being stored apart from other items. Off-gassing, acid-migration and other mysterious goings-on by one item can be permanently harmful to the items they are stored with. Newsprint, for example, is the bane of many paper-based collections. From roughly the 1850s/60s, newspapers stopped being made with old rags (there goes the rag picking business!). Instead, a cheaper form of paper making process was developed using wood. The newspaper clippings, and other items, that come from the later wood-based paper will cause discoloration and deterioration as well as self-destruct over time – guaranteed.
2. What something is made of makes a difference. Storing paper is different than storing photographs, or animal-based materials like leather and wool, and all of those are different than other plant-based items. If you aren’t certain how to best store your items, it’s better to ask a professional. There are no secrets to “how” to take care of your items, but there are some rules.
This scrapbook includes a mix of animal, human and plant materials as well as metallic decorations. It has been isolated in a bag made of an inert plastic.
3. Give some thought to how clean an item is before it is stored. It’s easy to imagine what a suitcase would look like if you were to pack your clean and well cared for clothes inside along with a pair of dirty sneakers you just wore during the latest mud-run. It’s silly to even think of doing, yet many times we don’t consider carefully removing some of the loose dust, and dirt from our own history items, or isolating the unclean object by enclosing it in a proper storage bag. NOTE: removing dirt and even dust can be tricky so it’s best if you check with a professional on the ideal method for your item(s).
This document needed to be removed from improper framing and carefully cleaned, removing old tape, dust and dead bugs, before it could be properly stored.
4. Environment is key. No matter how good the storage container, leaving it in an area where even you wouldn’t want to be is going to cause harm to your items. Sure, it’s easy to stash things in attics, basements or unused enclosed porches, but extreme temperatures, moisture, light and bugs are among the major causes of permanent damage to collections. A professional can tell you about the recommended guidelines for specific materials you are storing. But, until you can ask, just know that if you wouldn’t be comfortable sitting in that space, your stuff won’t be either.
There are more items in our homes that tell great histories than in all of the museums combined and undoubtedly there are real treasures that have yet to make their public appearance. That fact makes it extra important to do your best as a keeper of that history and preserve it for generations to come. You may not have a million-dollar piece in your collection, but the story your history tells is priceless.
These are a few great resources for true archive quality materials:
Hollinger Metal Edge: www.hollingermetaledge.com
Gaylord Archival: www.gaylord.com
University Products: www.universityproducts.com
I enjoyed this article very much. Having sold those acid-free photo albums in my work place I knew about how they say they helped to keep the photos safe from yellowing, but I didn’t know it didn’t include the plastic. I wondered in the back of my mind how it worked.