Why acid-free sleeves matter more than people think
Sleeves aren't just a nice extra. The wrong paper next to a photograph can eat it, slowly, from behind.
5 min read
The single biggest reason old family photographs deteriorate isn't sunlight, and it isn't damp. It's the paper they've been stored next to.
The lignin problem
Most cheap paper — including newspaper, most photo album pages made before about 1990, and standard cardboard boxes — contains lignin. Lignin breaks down into acids over decades. Those acids migrate into anything the paper is touching, including photographs, and cause the yellowing, brittleness, and fading you see on old prints.
What 'acid-free' actually means
It means the paper has a neutral pH (roughly 7) and, ideally, a slight buffer that will neutralise any acid that migrates in from outside. Museum-grade sleeves are also lignin-free, which is the more important spec.
The mistake people make with plastic sleeves
Old PVC sleeves (the shiny, sticky ones from the 1970s and '80s) are actively harmful — they off-gas plasticisers that eat into photo emulsions. If you have anything in old plastic wallets, take it out. Polyester (Mylar) or polypropylene sleeves are the safe modern equivalents.
The cheapest useful upgrade
If you don't want to re-sleeve a whole collection, at least separate photographs from newspaper cuttings. Newsprint is the single worst thing you can store next to a photograph.
Trusted with family archives
Umberdosh Restoration
Our Preserve and Archive packages re-house your originals in individual acid-free sleeves inside a rigid Preservation Kit before they come home.
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