Smart Tips to Keep your Antique Family Photos Looking Their Best!

Make your photos last and preserve your family memories for generations to come and beyond.

When you discover old photos and albums, it feels like unearthing buried treasure! Give your future generations the chance to experience this feeling too, by preserving all of your family’s precious memories and pass them down generation to generation. We know sorting through years of inherited family photos can be daunting! That’s why, we compiled some practical tips for keeping printed memories safe for the next generation and beyond.

Tip #1 – Choose the right type of photo album
Keep your photos in chronological order with a photo album but do avoid the ones with the sticky adhesive. The chemicals from the glue can seep into your photos and tear when you try to remove them from the album in years to come. Instead, use archival quality photo albums that are high in quality and non-acidic. When storing for long term, layer each photo or photo albums between sheets of acid-free paper in acid-free cardboard boxes.

Tip #2 – Digitise your photographs
Photo negatives will disintegrate over time! Save backups of old photos by creating a digital image that is as close to the original as possible. You can even do this yourself, it’s quite simple and easy! Invest in a good-quality photo scanner or you could simply duplicate the photos by re-taking the photograph with a digital smartphone but remember, the resolution is extremely important. Hi-resolution photos will take up more disk space, but it will be well worth it.

PRO TIP: When re-taking the picture, lay the photograph on a flat surface with natural lighting and shoot from the top, straight down. Try to avoid shadows and glares!

Tip #3 – Avoid direct sunlight, humidity and high temperatures
Keep photos safe by storing them somewhere dark away from sunlight, to keep ink or pigments from fading. UV and fluorescent lights will only break down images over the years. Areas with high humidity will encourage mould growth and moisture will likely cause the pictures to stick to each other. While higher humidity attracts insect infestations like silverfish, destroying your precious photos. Large temperature fluctuations isn’t great for photo storage either! It is best to store and preserve photos in a climate controlled environment.

Cube’s Climate Controlled Self Storage Units
Our 24 hours Climate Controlled Storage Units are kept at temperatures between 22 °C and 24 °C and humidity levels below 65 ensuring good air circulation and the best protection for all your precious family memories. Great for storing old photos for generations to enjoy!

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