by Richard Barthallo
During times of flood and typhoons, you can expect a lot of your possessions to be ruined. Books are no exception, but there are methods that will help you restore them to their condition before they were exposed to water. There are two ways of overcoming water damage. One is to air dry the books although some distortion, warping and staining can still be expected after this procedure. Another way is to freeze dry which uses a more advanced technique that pushes the restoration process even further. The latter alternative usually results in better conditioned books.

Before treating the books from water damage, you should first sort the books according to the amount of exposure to water. The first category is the heavily drenched or submerged books. These books will require a lot of attention if it is to be air dried. Do not try to flip the pages or open the books as you could cause further damage. The best thing you can do is to keep the books in a dry place and wrap it in absorbent material. Freeze drying will be an even better alternative for these kinds of books as this will halt the degradation process under extremely cold temperatures. When it is completely frozen, there is a vacuum freeze drying technique that will allow you to safely defrost and return them to their previous condition.

For books that are only partially damaged or wet, the methods for water damage restoration are much easier. If you plan to air dry them, you may put absorbent materials in between a bunch of pages to speed up the drying process. Emphasis is on the environment that you will dry the books in. The room should have a stable temperature with low humidity which will aid in drying up the books. Freeze drying methods may also be used for partially damaged books but the former method should be sufficient enough.

The advantages of using the air drying method is that it saves a lot of money but the downside is that it consumes time and space. If you do not have the luxury of either one, then shelling out extra cash to have professionals freeze dry your books may be your only option. The method you will choose is highly dependent on your situation and the value of your books. Although either method is pretty effective in restoring your book, the choice ends up being a matter of preference and circumstance.

Richard Barthallo is an restoration article writer for Water Damage and Water Damage

Article Source: PLJMagazine.com