Flooding can damage a number of different things, from the structure of your home to the furniture within. One thing that's often overlooked when it comes to water damage: the documents that were affected — everything from books and photographs to important papers and records.
Water can easily ruin these items if they come in contact with it. However, there are a few document drying techniques that may enable you to save your valuable paperwork.
Document Drying Techniques
- Air drying " Use paper towels that do not contain any type of ink prints to carefully remove excess water from your water damaged books and documents. Leave your documents out to air dry. For books, hold them open by both covers in order to air-dry the pages and prevent them from sticking to one another as they dry. Try sprinkling talcum powder on the pages in order to prevent them from sticking.
- Dehumidification " Place books and other water damaged documents into an isolated and enclosed area along with a dehumidifier. Either electromechanical or desiccant air-dry distribution type dehumidifiers will work to remove the moisture within this area. Don't forget to use the talcum powder on your book pages.
- Vacuum freeze drying " Many restoration companies use this method, which removes moisture from documents or books that have been damaged by water while at the same time preventing any deformation from happening. Basically, the affected item will be frozen at a fast rate, then placed into a vacuum chamber where the moisture is removed as the temperature slowly rises.
These three document drying techniques can help you save valuable documents and books from water damage. For more information about document drying and water damage services, contact the experts at Rytech Inc. We proudly serve 17 states from coast to coast.
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