The more we want to protect something the more stringent will be our efforts to safeguard it and in reality, some of the most horrible things you can do to the older documents and paperwork of your family will be in your attempts to protect or preserve it for future generations.

Of course there are myriad ways to actually destroy something, however, there are three or four primary ways that its done by the well meaning but amateur collector of family history.

The first one is a huge no no to anyone who knows anything at all about earlier photos or paper but its done fairly consistently by those who want to, and think that they ARE protecting it.
Laminating is among the most destructive things you can do to your older documents or photographs, but its done all the time in the name of protection.

Laminating is a prime example of how NOT to treat your photos. The medium that is used for laminating is one that includes some lower quality plastic, some heat and a lot of a lovely glue-like substance.

While its nearly poison to your photos, most folks aren’t aware that it also practically guarantees that the document that you sealed up is going to be unusable in no time flat.

The laminate deteriorates due to the glue, so does your document… the laminate also becomes cloudy over time. Generally prior to the laminate actually eating away the document inside, the plastic coating has become so cloudy due to the lower quality of the plastic, that you can’t see it well, and you can’t remove it because the glue actually has in many cases seeped in on the document, sealed it quite effectively to the cheap plastic and so removal is nearly impossible and you’ve effectively destroyed what you are trying so hard to protect.
If you MUST laminate something.. by all means, do so, but make it a copy, not the original.

The second method, sure fire guaranteed to ruin your documents, photos or old records is handling them with hands that aren’t properly prepared.
Before you handle any old document, wash your hands with a mild soap and water to remove the oils that will inevitably stay behind on older dry documents if you don’t prepare your hands before touching them.
There is a lot to be said for wearing a pair of gloves when you are working with photos and older documents.

You can find them nearly anywhere, particularly in beauty products stores. Plain white cotton gloves are sold to be used with lotion, to give your hands a chance to absorb the lotion while you sleep.
Omit the lotion of course but grab yourself a few pairs of these for handing your older documents and use them. That way, you not only don’t leave oil or dirt that will ruin the document, but you also don’t pick up oil and dirt, from documents that are old and dusty from time.

Labeling — when done correctly its perfect and necessary, but don’t for heavens sakes, label the older photos in your possession with permanent markers, petroleum based gel pens, or other such animals as these. you certainly Do want them all labeled. Thats a given, and it prevents them from becoming worthless to everyone, since we probaby wouldn’t know who was in the photo if there is no kind of label.

A simple pencil, on the back of the document or photo, in an obscure corner will do the trick.
Put in the name, date and subjects of the photo clearly so that everyone can see and know who’s in that picture. This means it won’t be simply another stupid photo of someone they don’t know when they are passed down in your family. It also means that you marked them correctly so they will survive to BE passed down in your family.

Last but certainly not least, lets not forget to store those valuable heirloom photos and documents in a proper environment.