Practicing Safe-Scrapbooking

   Why do we practice safe-scrapbooking?
Whilst scrapbooking is a lot of fun, the main reason for this rewarding hobby, 
is to preserve our precious photos
 and memories for our enjoyment and generations to come

LIGNIN FREE
   Lignin is found in all plants giving them strength.  Paper made from wood pulp
 is high in lignin unless it has been purposefully removed. Newspaper paper is
especially high in this substance, which is why it turns yellow rapidly with age.  
Paper or mementos, which contain lignin and are in contact with our photos, 
will cause them to become brittle and turn yellow with age.  
All scrapbook paper must be lignin free.

ACID FREE
   The ph scale runs from 0 to 14, with 7 being neutral. Any level below 7 is 
acidic, while any level above 7 is alkaline (or by definition "acid-free").
Acid in paper will cause it to break down over time. Because of this, paper 
with acid in it will contribute toward the disintegration of our precious photos 
over the years.
Scrapbookers should always use acid free products.
This includes, the albums, paper, stickers, embellishments, pens etc. 
Everything we use on our scrapbooking pages.

BUFFERED
   Buffered paper has been treated with an alkaline material (calcium or
 Magnesium carbonate) to neutralize acid. Allowing it to combat any
 acidic material that it comes in contact with. 
It will also help to keep acid from seeping from one item to another
across a scrapbook page. 
This helps, but is not a cure all, for instance if exposed to something very
acidic, the buffered page or paper may reach saturation point and 
be of little affect.

ALBUM STORAGE
   Albums like to live where you live. In order to protect them, it is ideal 
to keep them in a room that will stay about 24 degrees Celsius and 
have 40 percent humidity. The enemies of scrapbooks are light, heat,
and moisture; do not store albums in open sunlight, hot attics 
(or even temporarily in your car), or damp spots in the house. Of course, 
we do not want children to damage our scrapbooks, but it is often
the children who we are creating the albums for & they love
looking through them; so cover the pages with protectors 
and supervise their viewing.

  
PHOTOCOPYING MEMORABILIA
   Because newspapers and some memorabilia are very high in lignin and
are also acidic, they deteriorate quickly. You can spray the item with a 
de-acidification spray, however your best solution for long-term storage 
is a colour photocopy of the newspaper onto acid-free and lignin free
paper and with any memorabilia, either copy it or store it 
in a protective sleeve.

Have fun & Happy Memory Keeping!

Susan 
PAPER HAVEN