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The Best Way to Store Photographs

Of all the personal items you own, your photographs are easily the most valuable. Unlike furniture, clothing, and appliances, photographs are irreplaceable and can cause serious heartache if damaged or lost. You want to protect your photographs at all costs, and the proper storage techniques are a big factor in taking care of your precious memories.

While it would be easier to toss all of your original photographs into a cardboard box and stick it up in the attic, that is not the best way to ensure that your valuable tokens are protected. And while scanning your old photos into digital files is wonderful for sharing and creating a backup, it takes time, and a lot of it. Digital files are still subject to viruses, malware or computer failures. Having a backup is recommended but it doesn’t eliminate the need to preserve the original photos.

So how do you best protect those family keepsakes? First start with a basic step, which tends to get overlooked, by protecting those precious photographs from the oils found on human hands. Wear white cotton gloves, keep food and drink out of the area, and avoid exposing those wedding photos and baby pictures to sun and bright lights.

While it may take additional time, organize those precious vacation, graduation, and pictures of loved ones passed, in a manner that best makes sense to you; by occasion, by year, etc. Organizing your photos into albums or sturdy folders that are color coded or labeled will help you not only keep your memories intact, but also quickly locate certain photos when everyone comes to your house for the holiday.

There is a chance your photos are currently stored in the older but popular photo albums that are made from unsafe material that age the photographs faster. Popular vinyl page albums trap in harmful fumes that often accelerating fading and discoloration. “Magnetic” albums tend to leave adhesive residue on the face of the images which is also harmful. A good rule of thumb is to avoid albums that have a chemical smell.

Instead, invest in materials that are acid and lignin free specifically designed for archiving photographs. Archival file boxes are also available if you don’t want to devote the time to putting pictures back onto safe album pages. Whichever method you choose, make sure you remove the photographs from those harmful albums and give your prized photographs protection against dust, UV light, and moisture.

Lastly, choose the space where the photographs will be stored. The ideal spot is a room in your home that is visited frequently, but the amount of space albums can take isn’t always available or feasible. If that is the case, store those photos and albums in tightly sealed plastic containers and bring them to a secure climate control storage unit like one at AAA Self Storage of Topeka.

AAA Self Storage of Topeka offers climate control units in a large variety of sizes; anywhere from a cubby sized unit to a 20×20 unit that will accommodate your excess furniture, appliances, and seasonal items in additional to your priceless photographs. Whether you’re in Wamego or Burlingame, we have you covered.

Give yourself the gift of a comforted mind by storing your precious photographs at any of our AAA Self Storage of Topeka locations today.