what if something on my layout is NOT acid free?

okay, i know this is a no-no...and i did finally buy archival spray and an acid pen...BUT, there are many things in my layouts that i know are not acid free.

first of all, can i treat these things with the spray if they are still on the layout (meaning can i spray the whole layout?)
Second, will they discolor the paper over time, or just the pictures on the layout?
Third, can the acid 'seep' across the page and get to a photo, or is it okay as long as its not near the photo?
Lastly, is it horrible that i did my journaling in regular pens and sharpies?

im regreting being so lazy about making sure everything is acid free
TIA for any help!

I think it's best to detach the things you want to have sprayed. otherwise, you don't get to spray the backside of the acid-thingy, and that's still the side touching your paper/pictures.

I don't have any experience or opinion on your ohter questions.

I agree with what has been said also

I have read that if the acid thing is not touching your photo it will be ok.

I have heard many different things on this. I think some of it depends on the company pushing thier product. In all reality I have looked at old old albums and this is what I see. Magnetic ones were horrid! They destroyed photos. However, many of the other scrapbook like albums may have crumbled, but I cannot say they distroyed photos. I think the quality of most of what you are using is so much better that it should not have that affect. Additionally photos are better quality these days. Not necessarily photos you print with your printer (depends on the printer), but if you get them professionally printed they are a totally different quality. The photos that have yellowed or faded from so long ago did not just fade from age. The actual printing process at that time included paper that was acidic. So the very photos themselves had issues. That is another reason it is a good idea to scan old photos. No matter what you do with them they are likely to continue to deteriorate.

So all that said... I try to be as careful as possible, but in reality I don't think you have to be as anal as some people make it out to be. I would not use regular old construction paper or rubber cement on my layouts, but I also would not worry about using a few things that you know may have acid in them.

( I am the rebel here...)
My grandmother made scrapbooks back in the day.
Her books are almost 100 years old and she has stuff PILED in them that are clearly NOT acid free.

Everything is in perfect condition.

So I guess I never worry about it

I agree with Laura. To be honest with you, I'm not under any impressions that my albums will still be around in 200 years or anything. I don't really use anything that's not a/f without spraying it first. However, I think the industry has created this culture of fear so that people are afraid to use ticket stubs or anything. We live in an acidic environment and there is no way (short of a climate-controlled chamber) to make sure your books stay acid free.

My mom buys antique book lots at estate sales, and you would not believe how many scrapbooks she finds in there. I think eventually that's how mine will end up, so I don't panic about it.

I was interested in the comment that pictures are better quality now than they used to be. The other night my DD and I were talking about how it's just the opposite. I have recent photos that have gone terribly yellow, but photos of my mother as a girl that are pefect! They weren't even specially stored - just taped into old albums. Of course those were B/W and my more recent ones color. Maybe that has something to do with it.

I try not to worry too much about this stuff, either. If I have something that is not acid free, like a ticket stub, I just mount it on acid-free paper away from the photo or I put it in one of those keepsake pockets. If you are that worried about it, I'd take out the stuff that's not acid free and spray it. I wouldn't spray the whole LO, because like Alita said, then you miss the back of the item. Frankly, though, I don't worry too much about it.

• LauraSolomon Said:

You know, I used to be acid free everything, but after seeing scrapbooks found from the time of General Washington (and they were in good condition) and seeing items that were preserved in boxes away from heat and water (and they were not acid free obviously) for almost 100 years, I've come to the conclusion that while some things are very harmful to your photos, many every day objects are just fine.

Obviously magnetic albums are NOT a good ides But I've seen journals with photos inside and items like old valentines and several types of non archival inks and random objects and they were fine after nearly 100 years.

I don't go out searching for acidic items to put in my books but here and there I might add an object that isn't 100% acid free. I don't expect my books to last for 700 years or more, and I don't want to be limited to "scrapbooking" items anymore.

Especially since there is NO standard in the industry. Some of the things that are specifically sold for scrapbooking isn't even 100% acid free even though they may state they are. So even those who think they have books that are 100% acid free may not.

• Here Kitty Said:

This is so true! When I began questioning the acid free thing, I tested some products by reputable brands and my acid testing pen said they were not a/f.

• petergabrielfan Said:

Yep, and it happens all the time. In my mind, it's just better not to freak out and get all obsessed with "acid free" and just scrapbook. Its' creatively limiting to only be able to use "scrapbooking" items. I use hardware items, things I find, and I'll be darned if I can't use things like tickets, notes and other things that actually mean something.

When I first started scrapbooking over a decade ago, I didn't know about the whole acid/lignin free thing. Some of my first books are a bit messed up now, but I just consider it learning experience. Sharpies will discolor the area around them. Some of the photos where I wrote on the back with a Sharpie, the writing is starting to bleed through. Regular ink pens will sometimes bleed on the paper, but I think it depends on the type of ink. Its not a horrible calamity, but the pages don't look as great as they should. Construction paper will discolor. Regular Elmer's glue makes the paper turn funky colors.

As for acid fears, I still include my daughter's artwork done on construction paper. The paper will age, yes, but I still want to keep that memento. I have ticket stubs, aged flowers, etc in my books. Anything that could seriously damage other stuff is in its own protective sealed pockets. I would suggest scanning in sonogram pics printed on laser paper, but that's simply because the laser paper blackens if it gets hot.

I also have all my photos archived on cd, with a complete set stored in 2 other cities with relatives. Should my books get damaged or deteriorate, I will still have my original photos to start fresh with.

Glad to see opinions on this subject. I also like putting things in my book that are not acid free most likely.
What do you do when you want to include newspaper articles in your scrapbook? I have several that I want to put in my scrapbook for my son.

I have numerous pages that have items that were not acid free including newspaper articles and inkjet paper printouts from the internet (before I got a photo printer).
What I decided to do is…I had the pages scanned, got archival printouts of the pages, then I cut up the archival printouts and replaced the “not acid free” sections on the original page with the archival printout. Replacing some of the sections was a little tricky if there were stickers, etc. but it wasn’t all that hard. In one evening I replaced the non-archival sections with archival printouts on about 20 pages. Or, if the section was large, I just put the entire archival printout in my book and it became the new page.

Now (because I am too lazy to scan things and make printouts) I design the page keeping-in-mind that I am going to replace this newspaper clipping with an archival copy when I get it.

PS The Bonus is when you get the scan file you can even touch it up (in Photoshop) before you get the printout.
Examples of a newspaper article.
http://www.scrapbook.com/galleries/184183/view /965895/-...

http://www.scrapbook.com/myplace/index.php?mod=gallerie...

http://www.scrapbook.com/myplace/index.php?mod=gallerie...

• MOmommyscrapper Said:

I scan most of them and print them on cardstock. Some, like birth announcements, I have laminated to save the originals.

Thanks for all the replies..i guess im making it out to be a bigger deal than it actually is lol

Well, you'll also get many people that will say that the acid WILL seep across the page, so you should use buffered paper (which is supposed to help prevent that) and only acid-free stuff. I haven't done the research so I don't know. I buy stuff that says acid-free and I include whatever I want to include memorabilia-wise.

Yeah, I know you get info both ways. If you talk to anyone associated with Creative Memories they will say that acid and lignin are horrid and you must used buffered pages. I would presume that to some extent they are right in the fact that their products are some of the safest to use. I guess it just depends on what really matters to you. I would rather do what I enjoy and have it be fairly safe.

I kind of think at some point generations down the line are not going to want a million books anyway. I scan and upload all mine. It would not surprise me if most stuff was digital at some point. I am still not a digi scrapper, but somedays I think about all those books.... I love to sb and would love to make a lo per day if I had time. I don't even have kids yet! There are a lot of us that will be sending our kids off with like 20 or more albums as adults and if they keep scrapbooking and their spouse has childhood scrapbooks and they inherit parents heritage albums....my goodness...who cares that it all survived. They are going to need frekin libraries just to hold all these albums. (OK, that was a bit of a random rant, but sometimes I think about these things and wonder what people will do with all these albums). I currently have a thread saved that is for an expecting album. I plan to do one if I ever have kids, but that means the kid is going to have an album before he/she is even born! Then probably something rediculous like 3 for the first year and maybe drop off to 1 or 2 per year after that. This kid could easily have 40 albums by age 18 that are just of it! That would not even include heritage albums or other fun little mini albums or it's spouse's albums or their childrens album.

My biggest "conservation/archival" issue is not the acid (though I have seen newspaper articles discolor in only a few years), it is things fading. I look very carefully at the quality of the ink on the items I add to my pages. And when it comes to the photos I print at home, I recently switched to the highest grade of photo paper available. It really made a difference.

I have issues with fading also. My photos at home had been fading so I don't print at home anymore. However, I am looking into a better quality printer which should make it easier to print at home.