Has your house been flooded with water? Have the items in your house been damaged with water? Have your papers and documents been damaged with water? Are you feeling at a loss about how to recover your documents? You want to salvage your documents but do you have no clue about any document drying methods?



Don't despair. This article will help you with some of the document drying tips that you can use at home yourself.

1. If your documents are submerged in water, remove them immediately before any further damage occurs.

2. Now you can begin with document drying. Air-dry your documents. Spread your documents in a dry area. It could be a dry floor or a dry table. But make sure that the area is completely dry and clean. You do not want to further damage your documents by placing them on a damp and unclean surface.

3. A very important thing required for document drying and recovery is low humidity. So make sure that the humidity in the area is not very high. Ideally, the temperature in the drying area should be below 70 degrees Fahrenheit and the humidity should be below 50%.

4. You can also use a dehumidifier for document drying. Dehumidifiers work by reducing the humidity and moisture in the area and thus help in drying the documents.

5. If you are using an outdoor area for document drying make sure that your papers are not exposed to direct sunlight. Sunlight can lead to fading of inks and aging of your documents. Also make sure that there is no breeze. It will blow your papers away.

6. Use fans for document drying. Fans improve the circulation of air in the area. They will help in faster drying of your documents and will also prevent the growth of mildew on your papers. However, direct fans in the air and not at your papers. Directing the fans at your documents might blow them away.

7. Another thing to consider in document drying is whether water-soluble inks have been used on the document. If yes, water may have led to running or blurred inks. For such documents it is very important that they are immediately frozen. This will help in further damage to the ink and also help in document drying.

8. For drying documents which are printed on coated paper, it is very important that they are separated immediately. If not separated as soon as possible, these types of documents tend to stick together. Remove the papers one by one using a polyester film and allow the papers to dry separately.

9. In document drying, always make sure that the most precious and most important documents are the first to be dried.

10. Use freeze drying for valuable and irreplaceable documents which are more prone to distortions or which have been extensively damaged with the water.

These quick tips will help in document drying and recovering your documents from water damage. However, for valuable documents, it is always a good idea to hire a professional conservator.