What to Do If Your Belongings Are Damaged in a Disaster

Lay wet photographs out to dry on a table lined with towels, in a well-ventilated room. According to Barbara Lemmen, senior photograph conservator at the Conservation Center for Art and Historic Artifacts, “If photographs are actively wet and adhere to each other, you can resubmerge them in water and attempt to pull them apart and allow them to air dry. If prints are dry, try to gently pull them apart.” Lemmen mentions not to stress the prints by pulling too hard. If the prints do not easily separate, call a photograph conservator.

If textiles got damp from water intrusion or being closed up in an extremely humid closet, the first step is to get them as dry as possible, as soon as possible. You can dry textiles by spreading them out and allowing ample air circulation around them. Be careful of leaving them in the sun too long, as sunlight might bleach the colors.  

Textile conservator Howard Sutcliffe provided some further advice on how to deal with mold that may have grown on damp clothing or upholstery:  

For dirty porcelain and fine china, wash gently and dry completely with a clean cloth before putting them away. More porous earthenwares, such as terra cotta and unglazed sculptures, should not be submerged in water or cleaned with soap, as these substances will be absorbed into the ceramic. If there are stains on these pieces, contact a conservator.  Fine dishes should be stored on a sturdy, level surface. Try not to stack these items, as it can put pressure on the bottom pieces.   

Dirty silver should also be washed with dish soap and thoroughly dried. High humidity can increase tarnish, so pieces may need to be polished as well. Washing and buffing with a clean cotton cloth will remove some slight tarnish. If a further polish is needed, use a silver polish with a low grit and do not use any polishing methods that require submerging or dipping the piece. Make sure that polish residue is thoroughly removed by using a cotton swab to clean out crevices and washing the silver after polishing.  

Ideal silver storage is in a cool, dry, airtight place, packed so that pieces are not touching each other. You should wrap silver in silver cloth (which is usually the lining in silver chests), never in plastic or bound with rubber bands. In a museum setting, we also handle silver, and all metals, with gloves on to reduce transferring the moisture and sulfides in the oils of our hands to the objects. This is an extra step you can do in your home, but not necessary. 

Looking at our historic windows after the storm, we’ve learned that glass is surprisingly strong. But anyone who has dropped a glass at the end of a night knows that glass is also fragile. Not only is glass unstable if dropped, but it can also suffer damage from moisture in the air. If stored in a humid environment, glass, especially lead crystal, can suffer from glass disease—when the salts in the chemical makeup of glass are leached from the material. This is called weeping. These salts are hygroscopic, meaning they attract more water as they leach out, worsening the problem and quickening the reaction. Weeping can eventually lead to crizzling, a series of small (sometimes microscopic) cracks, which can cause cloudiness and significantly weaken the glass. To put a stop to glass disease, wash and dry the glass and then store it in a stable environment with ventilation. Placing an open box of baking soda, or a couple of those “DO NOT EAT” silica packets from your last new pair of shoes, in the cabinet will help keep the humidity down. Always store glass the way it was intended to sit, on its foot, not turned upside down hanging from its foot or resting on its rim. This can cause stress within the form and can create a microenvironment within the enclosed bowl. 

High humidity is a primary threat to any object, especially wooden ones. The swelling and warping that make your front door stick in hot weather can happen to furniture, too. After gently drying surfaces with a soft cloth, place a container of an absorbent substance like baking soda or DampRid near or inside furniture to draw out excess moisture. Use a vacuum with a brush attachment to remove dust and dirt. If cracks formed or veneer popped off due to expansion in the excess heat and humidity, collect any separated pieces and call a conservator. 

If any mold bloomed on the surface of your furniture during its exposure to high humidity, wait until the surface is dry and then carefully remove spores with a brush, dry cloth, or vacuum with HEPA filter. Harsh products like bleach or Lysol are not as effective on mold and can damage furniture; use a cleaning solution of 30% water and 70% ethanol [ethyl alcohol] can help kill remaining active spores. Test the solution on a small inconspicuous area first. Always wear protective gear when dealing with mold. White mildew is easier to remove, while more toxic black mold may require professional remediation. 

For advice on when to call in the experts, we called on our own resident expert, HNOC Conservation Coordinator Maclyn Le Bourgeois Hickey: 

• National Heritage Responders, “Mold in Collections”
• American Institute for Conservation, “Find a Professional”