I was dead set against using a humidifier on old documents until I tried it on a 1940s letter

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My grandpa had this old map from 1952 that was basically crumbling in his hands. He tried the humidifier trick after watching some YouTube video and it actually worked pretty well. The paper went from crispy to flexible without getting wet spots or mold. I was super skeptical at first too cause you always hear horror stories about moisture ruining stuff. He kept it in a sealed container with the humidifier for like 3 days straight. Now it lays flat and you can actually read the street names without the paper cracking.

jana_price8d ago

Yeah that humidifier trick is wild how it works, it's like the paper just remembers it was a tree once and wants to go back to being flexible. My mom tried something similar with an old family Bible that had pages so dry they were basically dusting off, she put it in a ziplock with a damp paper towel but not touching, just floating in there. Took about a week but you could actually turn the pages again without them crumbling into confetti, I was totally expecting it to get all moldy and ruined. It's funny how something that seems so wrong like adding moisture to old paper actually saves it if you do it slow and careful.