Photos stuck together - how do you separate?

[Theo]

Could someone please comment on how to separate photos that have stuck together. I was personally thinking of using distilled water and letting the photos soak in it until they come apart.

Assistance would be greatly appreciated.

(...and yes the photos are regular photo stock, not inkjet - somewhat old as well)

Regards,

Theo

 

[Thomas Niemann]

That should work. I doubt that distilled water is necessary, as it's not used when washing prints. When you dry them, take a squeegee or windshield wiper and gently wipe the water beads off the surface before drying.

If it's real old paper, that stuff was rather thick and curled like the dickens. We used to reverse-curl them and let them dry in a blotter roll. Lacking a blotter roll, you can just air dry them (we set them on screens, but a towel should do), then place them under a book after they're dry to flatten them out.

--
Thomas Niemann
http://epaperpress.com

 

[Cassandra59044]

Theo,

I recall reading a post about a product made specifically for unsticking photographs without any residual damage. I don't recall the name of it but it is made especially for this purpose and is available in craft stores (at least here in the U.S.). I'll be going by one this afternoon and will see if I can find it and get the name for you.

Cassandra

--
http://welcome.to/cassandras-gallery
http://www.pbase.com/cassandra
http://www.photoaccess.com/share/guest.jsp?Gallery=AE101322506&cb=PA

 

[Cassandra59044]

Okay I found it. Except it's made for removing adhesive from photos (like from a magnetic-type photo album). It's called Un-Du adhesive remover. Their website is: http://www.un-du.com

Cassandra

Theo,

I recall reading a post about a product made specifically for
unsticking photographs without any residual damage. I don't recall
the name of it but it is made especially for this purpose and is
available in craft stores (at least here in the U.S.). I'll be
going by one this afternoon and will see if I can find it and get
the name for you.

Cassandra

--
http://welcome.to/cassandras-gallery
http://www.pbase.com/cassandra
http://www.photoaccess.com/share/guest.jsp?Gallery=AE101322506&cb=PA

--
http://welcome.to/cassandras-gallery
http://www.pbase.com/cassandra
http://www.photoaccess.com/share/guest.jsp?Gallery=AE101322506&cb=PA

 

[DianeR]

I agree with Thomas - plain water will do the trick - used to do it all the time in the days of the chemical darkroom. Don't be alarmed when you see the colors change when they are wet. If you have a glass baking dish, that would be perfect to lay the photo in and then add the water. Good luck!

DianeR

That should work. I doubt that distilled water is necessary, as
it's not used when washing prints. When you dry them, take a
squeegee or windshield wiper and gently wipe the water beads off
the surface before drying.

If it's real old paper, that stuff was rather thick and curled like
the dickens. We used to reverse-curl them and let them dry in a
blotter roll. Lacking a blotter roll, you can just air dry them (we
set them on screens, but a towel should do), then place them under
a book after they're dry to flatten them out.

--
Thomas Niemann
http://epaperpress.com

 

[Theo]

DianeR

That should work. I doubt that distilled water is necessary, as
it's not used when washing prints. When you dry them, take a
squeegee or windshield wiper and gently wipe the water beads off
the surface before drying.

If it's real old paper, that stuff was rather thick and curled like
the dickens. We used to reverse-curl them and let them dry in a
blotter roll. Lacking a blotter roll, you can just air dry them (we
set them on screens, but a towel should do), then place them under
a book after they're dry to flatten them out.

--
Thomas Niemann
http://epaperpress.com

 

[BeeGee52]

Just so others don't spend hours agonizing over whether immersing in water will work for newer, digital camera photo prints (YES, sometimes we DO still get prints made!), the answer is YES. At least with the type of digital prints you get from places such as Walgreens. I haven't tried any created on a home printer, on glossy or matte photo paper. I have no idea if that would work the same way or not. After a couple of days of internet research, NONE of which was helpful in definitively concluding that the information applied to anything other than old, darkroom-type, developer-and-fixer type photos created from negatives, I tried what I considered to be less hazardous methods, like freezing (Did NOT work. I ended up with pieces of the backs of pictures stuck to the fronts of other pictures.) then I finally decided I had nothing to lose since the photos were not useable as they were. I went ahead and put them in water. (Not distilled by the way. Totally unnecessary.) Yes, they do curl somewhat. I'm assuming that isn't an issue because remembering back to my college photography class darkroom days, curled photos do flatten. Besides, these photos are going into an album which will obviously be closed more than open.