How to Preserve Valuable Documents
Keeping valuable documents such as birth certificate, marriage certificate, property records, etc in perfect conditions is something that everyone needs to focus on. Fortunately, taking care of documents and preserving them is not hard at all.
Instructions
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1
The first thing you need to do is to assess the condition in which the documents are. You may have to get them repaired or restored if they are falling apart or difficult to read before you can start thinking about how to preserve them. If the value of the documents lies in its content instead of their original copy, then you can consider getting another copy of them made and preserving that copy while doing away with the original since it is already falling apart.
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2
You need to assess the value of the document, as that would help you to decide how to preserve them. If the documents are of great value, you may want to preserve them by investing in fire-proof safe, so that they not only remain safe from air, which results in pages turning yellow due to oxidation, but will also keep them safe in case of fire. However, documents regarding property or family records can conveniently be stored in plastic sleeves.
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3
If the documents are already really old, you should consider putting them in archival sleeves. This will reduce their exposure to air, thus reducing the chance of oxidation and yellowing. Keeping them in archival sleeves will also keep them safe from hand oils. Once you have placed the valuable documents in archival sleeves, store it at some place where it will not be affected by temperate and humidity. One option is to keep the archival sleeves in a bank locker.
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4
Try to handle the valuable documents as infrequently as possible. When you must access them, handle them with utmost care. It would be a good idea to wear gloves or using tweezers to handle the documents instead of touching them directly.
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5
You can scan your documents in a computer and access them from there instead of touching the original documents frequently.
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6
Archive the documents in a room with shelves. Try to use the room solely for this purpose. Do not allow kids to access the room. Keep it locked so that you do not have to worry about your kids or grandkids going in there and messing with the documents.
