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Scrapbooking paper
By Wendy | July 14, 2008
Looking through those old dusty photo albums and notice that the pictures don’t seem as crisp or clear as you remember them being years ago? Taking on a yellowish tint were even the paper that they are mounted on is turning brown and crispy? However pictures that have been mounted professionally hanging on your walls for years still have the luster and look that the picture could have been taken yesterday. So what happened to the pictures in the photo album? One would only have to look no further than the paper it was mounted on to find the answer to this question.
Paper is made from a wood based pulp to where if its lignin, the chemical compound that makes up the cellular structure of plants, is not completely removed will cause the paper to yellow over time along with any other items attached to it such as photos. Lignin makes a paper more acidic to where light or heat will cause the paper to break down faster therefore causing the yellowing effect that can photos can become brittle over times as well.
So when you look at the photos that hang upon your walls carefully encased in a beautiful frame look to the mat and most likely that mat is made of a high grade quality of paper that has its entire lignin removed making the paper ph neutral or acid free. With this in mind when you are looking for paper for your scrapbooking projects, find paper that are archival safe and acid free. Also keep in mind that everything else that touches the photos must also be acid free such as any adhesives, markers or pens that are used. Newspapers contain a high level of lignin within them therefore breaks down faster so if you want to add newspaper clippings to your project, photocopy the article onto acid free paper (use off white to emulate the color of a newspaper).
Spend some time in your local craft store or scrapbooking suppliers like Creative Memories or Sizzix for archival safe lignin free paper. Somewhere it should state if the paper is in fact acid free or lignin free. If not go ahead and ask to find out more about the paper or be directed to where you can find this kind of paper you are searching for. The higher quality of paper that is used the longer your scrapbook and photos will last. And last but not least if you plan on protecting your work in a plastic sleeve make sure that the sleeve is acid free or archival safe as well. If they are not they will break down even you’re carefully purchased and protected projects faster than normal.
So how important is your Scrapbooking paper, extremely important if you want them to last for years to come. By going the extra acid free mile your scrapbooking project should last for years to come keeping your photos protected just like the photos in your professionally mounted picture frames.
Topics: Scrapbooking | No Comments »
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