How to choose safe products

It is hard to know what products are safe and which products are not safe for your photos. Most scrapbookers feel that there is more to making a scrapbook than just making cute pages, scrapbookers really want to ensure that they help their photos look good for as long as possible. In order for your photos to stay looking good, they need to be surrounded by materials that will not accelerate their aging. Many materials that have been used in photo albums in the past were actually damaging to the photos in the albums. It is more common for the products being created today for scrapbookers to be safe, so it is getting easier and easier to ensure you have safe products.

Some confusing terms that are widely used are:

Photo Safe - Has no "real" definition but varies from company to company and is abused by a few companies. Photo Safe cannot be considered as a guarantee that your photos are safe because there are no set standards for this term.

Archival Quality - This term also has no standardized definition, however, it implies that all materials used in the product are chemically stable. Companies generally do not abuse this term.

Should everything in my scrapbook be "safe"?

This is a tricky question, because there is no right answer. The safer that your album is the longer your photos will last. However, there is no way to figure out how much faster your photos will age if you add a few un-safe items or if the album has one unsafe material used to manufacture it. My best advice is to seek out the safest supplies that you can afford. If acid-free, lignin-free paper costs 10 cents a sheet and paper that is NOT labeled as being acid free and lignin free is also 10 cents a sheet, buy the paper that is labeled as acid-free and lignin-free. One thing to remember is that if you choose to use vinyl albums, they should be kept well ventilated so that the fumes from the vinyl do not have a chance to damage your photos. (There is some disagreement among experts as to how safe vinyl for photos.)

Materials to be avoided in scrapbooking:

(1) Paper containing acid and or lignin or paper that is not pH balanced or Buffered. Acid in paper causes the paper itself to deteriorate & the acid also migrates to contribute to the deterioration of photos and memorabilia. Unstable paper or materials that are not chemically stable or archival quality Paper can be acid free at the time of manufacture only to BECOME acidic if it is not buffered to provide chemical stability.

(2) Recycled Papers cannot be archival quality. When possiblesearch for products that are NOT recycled for scrapbooking.

(3) Lignin (the material that holds wood cells together) Paper will turn brown with age. Eventually the paper will crumble and disintegrate.

(4) Adhesives used in magnetic albums and adhesives that are not archival Quality. Many adhesives are caustic and will eventually eat away at photos and memorabilia. Acids contained in the adhesives damage the photos they adhere to and can migrate to other items in your scrapbook. Adhesives that become brittle with age causing your items to "pop off" the page (Paper Cement, Rubber Cement, Glue Sticks). You should try and use an adhesive that has a good amount of "tack". It is recommended to use photos splits, photos tape or tape runner for photos. These are stable and have a good tack, meaning that they will not dry up and release your photos in a few years. However, if you need to remove a photo you can remove it from your album with a minimum of damage to your album and generally no damage to the photos. Photo corner, plastic overlays & pocket pages containing PVC (Poly Vinyl Chloride). The chlorine gas causes photos to yellow. Photos may become sticky and may be difficult or impossible to remove.

(5) Ballpoint pen and felt tip pen inks. Do not use regular inks in your scrapbooks. Some are acidic or contain solvents. Only use pens that are labeled as acid free, permanent and water free.

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