Caring for steam-damaged art

January 28, 2014 4:23 PM

A steam radiator valve fail on a cold day flooded my apartment with a hot steam cloud, and a couple pieces of framed art - photo prints on 200lb/300gsm paper - bathed in it enough to be showing some buckles as it dried out. The pictures are behind glass, and there's still a tiny bit of condensation back there with them. Any tips on caring for / restoring this steamed art?
posted by Haere to Media & Arts (3 answers total)

Best answer: First immediate thing: get them out of the glass ASAP. They're trapping in the moisture and making it worse. I mean really ASAP.
posted by Quisp Lover at 4:32 PM on January 28, 2014

Best answer: If they're silver-gelatin prints on fiber-based paper (and depending on how they were mounted in the frames), you may be able to flatten them using a dry mount press. This is how most photographers flatten fiber prints after they dry out anyways. If the photos are inkjet, something similar may work, but I have no experience with those materials.

And yeah. Definitely remove them from the glass ASAP.
posted by strangecargo at 4:34 PM on January 28, 2014 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Thanks both for the warning, they’re out of their frames now and will hopefully press back smooth…
posted by Haere at 5:32 PM on January 28, 2014