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Tried hydrogen peroxide on a 1950s birth certificate, almost lost the whole thing
I was working on my grandpa's old birth certificate from 1952 last weekend at my kitchen table. The thing was covered in yellow water stains and I figured a quick peroxide soak would brighten it up. Left it in for maybe 2 minutes and the ink started bleeding like crazy, I panicked and rinsed it under cold water. Ended up having to air dry it flat on a towel and now half the text is unreadable. Anyone know a better way to lift water stains from coated paper without wrecking the ink?
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carr.blake3mo ago
The 1950s used a different type of ink that's water soluble, often aniline dye based, which is basically fancy food coloring. I worked at a historical society for a summer and we used a white vinyl eraser on dry paper to lift surface grime, never any liquid. If the paper is coated, that coating is probably shellac or a similar sealant that traps stains but also traps the ink against it. You might try scanning it at high res and boosting contrast in a free editor like GIMP to pull back some of the text that faded. Next time test a tiny corner with a damp q-tip first and never assume peroxide is safe on anything before 1965.
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noah4153mo ago
Flip the paper over and check the back. Sometimes old ink bleeds through and the back side is actually cleaner. Scan both sides, invert the colors on the back, layer them in GIMP. Seen it work for faded stuff nobody could read.
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