Removing Pictures from Old Magnetic Photo Albums

gotta try dental floss, thanks for the tip

Thanks,

I found this on a website:

http://www.scrapfriends.us/articles/remove_photo.html

Common Household Objects Useful for Photo Removal:

1) Dental Floss. Dental floss is extremely thin, and if you’ve been listening to your dentist, you should already have some practice manipulating it. Slip a piece of floss under a corner of your photograph, and gently ‘saw’ it back and forth to free the photo from its adhesive.

2) Spatula or Wide-Blade Putty Knife. This works best when you have an ‘in’ under that photo to start with – for instance, if only part of the photograph is stuck to the page, or a corner is already free. Work carefully: a spatula or putty knife can go through your photo in the wink of an eye. But the thin edge, ‘sliced’ or gently bounced up between the page and the photo, can be enough to wedge them free of each other. I’ve also seen it suggested that warming up the edge of the spatula before using it can soften the adhesive it comes into contact with, and free the photo more readily. The spatula may have to be re-warmed several times during this process, as it cools. And don’t heat it super-hot, lest you damage your photo with the heat.

3) Hair Dryer. This method can be used if photos are only stuck to one side of a page. Set the blow dryer on low heat, and blow the warm air over the backside of the page using a back-and-forth motion. Use caution to use the minimum amount of heat necessary to soften the glue holding the photo down – as in #2, you don’t want to cause heat damage to the photo. Remove the photo while the glue is still soft: once it cools back down, it will probably be just as well stuck (if not moreso) as it was to begin with.

4) Microwave. I’ve seen many testimonials for this method, but have not tried it myself – no microwave in our household. But it’s worth a shot! This method also works on the idea that heating the glue will soften it, so that the photo is more easily removed. Make sure there is NO metal on the page for this one – microwaves and metal are a dangerous combination. One school of thought on this method suggests placing the page in a microwave once, for fifteen seconds. A second says to set the microwave for five seconds, wait a few seconds, shift the photo and try another five seconds. Using this ‘staggered’ approach allows you to check the photo in between ‘blasts’ so that you can remove it and work on freeing it as soon as you see the adhesive is beginning to give up. Whatever you do, don’t stick it in for a long period of time to begin with. You don’t want to scorch that photo!

5) Freezer. Wrap up the affected page or album and stick it in the freezer for a few minutes. Freezing causes the glue to become brittle, and more easily give up the photos. Remove photos before the page defrosts. Take care not to leave pages frozen indefinitely, because condensation forming on the album as it defrosts can cause water damage.

A Commercial Product to Try

: Un-du Adhesive Remover has a lot of fans in the scrapbooking world. This liquid is formulated to temporarily neutralize adhesive’s stickiness, which can make photos easier to remove. Yes, that’s ‘temporarily’ – once the Un-du evaporates, the stickiness returns.See full details and tips for usage at the Un-du company website. Although it is a liquid, Un-du will not damage photos, which also makes it good to try if you have adhesive stuck to the FRONT of a photo. There are several formulas available, so read the label carefully to see if the one you’ve found is the one you want. Un-du bottles also include a tool to slip under the photo as you apply the solution.


The process of removing these photos sometimes turns out to be a piece of cake, but other times requires a lot of time, patience, care and elbow-grease. Take your time, find the method that works best for you and your photos, and know you’re not alone! Good luck, and congratulations on taking the first step towards preserving those precious photos.

I actuallly found that if I removed the plastic protector and set it aside for a while the pictures released easier. But I live in a very dry climate and it might have dried the glue out quicker.

Undu works great and won't damage photos.
It's worth every penny!

dental floss--it can be a long and tedious process though.

Removing Pictures from Old Magnetic Photo Albums

What is the best and safest way to remove photos from an on of those old magnetic photo albums that do not want to come off?