Thursday 21 April 2011

Unsticking stuck photos....

Today I was asked if there was any solution to seperate photos that have become stuck together.

I had that problem myself a couple of years ago but I just threw the photos out ....wish I hadn't now - as I now have barely any photos to show for my 4 years of living and studying in Heerlen.

After searching the internet I came across a couple of solutions:
  • Freeze the photos 
  • use a hair dryer
  • steam them apart over a boiling kettle
  • Use Un-do (available in most Scrapbooking / craft stores)
and last and definitely the most popular and with the highest success rate
  • soak them in luke warm water. After a while the will separate. After they have soaked for a little while (approx. 20 minutes) very gently pull them apart under the water. Place them on a dry surface to dry out (on top of a clean tea towel).  Once the photos are dry you will notice they have curled up. You can either gently iron them flat, or if you have more time place under a heavy object like a book. If you iron, I suggest a very low setting and place a clean tea towel over the photo so that the iron doesn't burn the photo.
I hope you can successfully separate your photos!

3 comments:

Sandie said...

I have one of my Mum stuck to glass in a frame, I may just try this.... as I don't want to lose the precious photos! thanks!!

Unknown said...

I wish I had known it was so simple...would have saved me throwing out lots of photos!

Sandie said...

The one I have that is stuck, the kids spilled a sticky drink over frame and didn't tell me :-( Its a beautiful photograph of my Mum when she got married, so its precious. I'm definitely going to try this method and have the photo reproduced to save it. Thank you!