Saving water-damaged photos, documents and electronics

Triage first

After a flood or leak you cannot save everything at once. Sort quickly:

1. Irreplaceable: family photographs, letters, legal and identity documents, artwork, data.
2. Valuable or needed soon: computers, phones, work papers.
3. Replaceable: most books, printed copies, low-cost electronics.

Deal with the first group in the first hours. Paper and photographs start to grow mold within about 48 hours in warm, damp conditions.

Wear gloves. If the water was sewage or came from outdoors, wear a mask and eye protection too, keep items away from food areas, and consider whether an item is worth the risk. Contaminated paper and photographs can sometimes be saved by conservators, but it is specialist work.

Photograph damaged items before you start, for your insurer.

The freezer buys time

If you cannot deal with wet papers, books or photographs within a day or two, freeze them. Freezing stops mold and stops inks and dyes from running further. It does not dry anything, but it lets you deal with items later, a few at a time, or send them to a specialist.

• Rinse off mud gently with clean, cool water if items are dirty
• Separate items or small stacks with wax paper or freezer paper
• Seal in freezer bags
• Lay flat in the freezer

Restoration and document recovery companies use vacuum freeze-drying, which turns the ice straight into vapour and dries paper with far less distortion than air drying. It is the method used for archives and business records.

Photographs

• Handle by the edges. The wet image layer is soft and scratches easily.
• Remove from frames and albums while still wet, if you can do so without tearing. A photo stuck to glass should be left stuck and taken to a conservator, or scanned through the glass.
• Separate stuck photos by soaking them in clean, cool water and easing them apart gently. Do not pull dry photos apart.
• Rinse off dirt in clean, cool water. Do not rub.
• Dry face up in a single layer on clean paper towel or a screen, or hang by a corner with clips. Keep them out of direct sun and away from heat.
• Expect curling. They can be flattened later.
• Negatives and slides are treated the same way and are often more resilient than prints.

Older prints, colour prints and inkjet prints differ in how well they survive. Inkjet prints often run. Scan or photograph the most important images as soon as possible, even while damaged, in case they deteriorate further.

Documents and papers

• Lay single sheets flat on absorbent paper, and change the paper as it gets wet
• Do not unfold or separate very wet, fragile sheets by force. Let them dry a little first.
• Interleave stacks with paper towel every few sheets
• Keep air moving with a fan pointed away from the papers, and run a dehumidifier
• Do not use an iron, hair dryer, oven or microwave
• Coated, glossy paper sticks together permanently as it dries. Separate the pages while wet, or freeze it.

Replaceable documents, such as bank statements and most certificates, can often be reissued. Concentrate on what cannot be.

Books

• Soaked: freeze, or stand on end on absorbent paper with the covers slightly open, and do not fan the pages
• Partly wet: interleave paper towel every 20 pages or so and change it regularly
• Damp: stand upright with pages fanned in moving air
• When nearly dry, lay flat under a light weight to reduce warping

Books with glossy pages should be frozen or interleaved at every page.

Electronics

Safety first. Do not touch plugged-in equipment while standing in water. Switch off the circuit at the panel.

Then:

1. Do not switch it on, and do not plug it in to see whether it works. Powering wet electronics causes short circuits and starts corrosion that drying will not reverse.
2. Unplug it and remove the battery if it comes out.
3. Drain and blot visible water. Remove cases, covers and SIM and memory cards.
4. Leave it to dry in moving air in a dry room. Open what can be opened.
5. Skip the rice. It does little, and starch and dust can get into ports. Silica gel packets in a sealed container are better, and patience is better still.
6. Do not use a hair dryer or oven. Heat damages components and can drive water further in.

Clean water that dries out fully sometimes leaves a device working. Dirty water, salt, sewage and soot leave conductive and corrosive residues that keep working after the device is dry. Electronics restoration firms take devices apart, wash the boards with deionised water or solvents, dry them and test them. For anything valuable, or anything exposed to contaminated water, that is the route.

Large appliances that were submerged, such as furnaces, water heaters, washers, dryers and fridges, must be checked by a qualified technician before use. Motors, controls and insulation may be ruined, and gas appliances are a safety issue.

Data matters more than the device

• Hard drives. Do not power up a wet drive, and do not dry it out and try it. Keep it damp in a sealed bag and send it to a data recovery service. Drying leaves deposits on the platters.
• Solid-state drives, USB sticks and memory cards often survive. Rinse off dirty water with clean water, dry thoroughly, then copy the data off straight away.
• Phones. If it does power on after drying, back it up immediately.
• Cloud accounts may already hold copies of your photographs and files. Check before spending money on recovery.

Artwork, textiles and heirlooms

Paintings, works on paper, quilts, wedding dresses, leather and wooden antiques each need different handling. Keep them cool, move air gently, do not apply heat and call a conservator. The Canadian Conservation Institute publishes guidance for the public, and museums and archives can often suggest someone.

What a restoration contractor does

In a larger loss, contents are packed out, inventoried and taken for cleaning and drying. Services may include document freeze-drying, electronics cleaning, textile and art restoration through specialists, and deodorising. Ask what is being sent where, and for a list.

Insurance

Contents coverage generally pays to restore damaged belongings where that costs less than replacing them, and to replace those that cannot be saved. Some categories, such as documents, data, collectibles and cash, often have low limits. Sentimental value is not insured, which is one more reason to act quickly on the things that matter.

Before the next time

• Scan or photograph important documents and old photographs, and keep copies in a cloud account
• Back up computers and phones automatically
• Store originals above floor level, in plastic bins with lids, not in cardboard in the basement
• Keep identity and legal documents in a waterproof, fire-resistant box or a safety deposit box

More: contents cleaning and pack-out.