Freeze Drying Water Damaged Documents

Water damage to a home does not only affect the structure of the home alone. There are many valuable assets in the home that are also damaged by water. Many people think that if their important documents are water damaged they are ruined and completely destroyed. This is not so! Freeze drying documents is a process that restores paper that has been subjected to water damage. This process can save those important documents you thought you lost forever.

While there are other methods that can be used to restore the documents, freeze drying is the safest. Most people believe that allowing the document to air dry will restore it. Though this can sometimes work, freeze drying is a much better approach. The most important thing to remember when your documents have been water damaged is to initiate restoration as soon as possible. The longer the documents stay wet the harder it will be to restore them.

The freeze drying process should only be performed by professionals. It is a complicated process and should not be attempted at home. The water damaged documents are first frozen. This allows the spread of water to cease, therefore removing the chances of further damage. When the documents are frozen the water transforms into a gas form. This reduces expansion and sticking. It also stops the water from spreading to multiple pages and ruining more of the document.

The frozen documents are then placed on a condensing surface. This surface must be colder than -40 degrees C. The purpose of this is to remove the vapor from the item being dried. A vacuum pump is then used on the document. This is a special pump that is used at a very low pressure to complete the freeze drying process. It is important to understand that the pump is actually a vacuum, which means there is no air and no leaks.

Once the documents are completely freeze dried you will need a heat source. This will remove the water that is bound in the paper. This is the most difficult step of the entire process.

To sum up, the freeze drying process begins with placing the documents in a chamber that is connected to a condenser. The vacuum pump is attached to that condenser and the chamber. After the pump is turned on the chamber will reach a certain pressure. At that point the vapor is removed from the frozen item and collected in the condenser. Heat is them applied to eliminate any water that is bound in the pages.

Freeze drying documents is the most effective way of saving and restoring documents that have been water damaged. The process restores the important documents that would otherwise be unsalvageable.

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