Getting the curl out of rolled up prints

[leon]

God Morning to you all.

I have a number of very high quality prints in exceptional order and on very decent thick textured paper.

These are truly splendid looking prints, however they have been rolled up in protective cylinders for many years and now i would like to flatten them out without any damage.

Other than laying them under a flat weight for 10 years is there a magic trick that might help and speed up this process.

Probably not but just asking anyway.

Thank you Leon

[mura_gadi (Steve)]

Hello,

Having worked in a library for a number of years, I would recommend web searches for "biblio restoration". That would probably be the best place to start, they have been restoring paper for a long time.

And yes, it might be tissue paper, newspaper, thick plywood, stacked and parking a car wheel on it over night...

[leon]

Thanks Steve i will have a look at that.

Leon

[JA]

Hi Leon,

Given that they are prints on very thick textured paper, if they were mine, and important, irrespective of what advice I was given for a quick fix, I would take them out of their tubes and let them slowly and naturally uncurl somewhat, rather than potentially result in some microcracking of the surface image due to the paper thickness.

The paper has been in the curled state for a long time and has undergone many thermal cycles which has helped set it's curled state.

Before putting it under weights, forcibly uncurling it, steaming it/adding humidity or whatever fix is recommended and you ultimately decide upon let it try to uncurl as much as possible by itself perhaps changing its position, on end on side etc.. Daily indoors.

Then when it's unfurled somewhat, do your thing, as you will have somewhat lessened the degree of curvature and difference in fibre states in the paper.

Be patient if you can.

Best
JA

[multiweb (Marc)]

Roll them up the other way and let them sit a little. That should help.

[glend (Glen)]

I have had to unfurl some old family photos, and simply forcing them to unfurl under weights can crack the emulsion. I would suggest steaming them slightly (on the backside) and then as the curl relaxes, placing them under flat weights, like a book. If you stack multiple photos under the same pile, separate them with non stick paper. Leave a few days and check.

[LewisM]

Professional system is a heated vacuum table, with the print covered in vacuum sealed Mylar. Kept that way for at least a day then weighted under a layer of Mylar, felt and a flat board for a few weeks

[leon]

Thank you all for your suggestions, plenty of good ideas here.

Leon

[Boozlefoot]

Are these your old Jimi Hendrix posters Leon?

Dead sea scrolls were knackered by well meaning "professionals".
In the 1960s and 1970s, interventions were undertaken to undo previous damage inflicted on the Scrolls. Glass plates were opened and attempts were made to remove the adhesive tape and stains. However, the methods employed caused even further damage to the fragments.

A quick "Biblio restoration" search as previously mentioned sounds the safest option.