Color Prints Stuck Together?

[Kevin Crisp]

Somebody at my office just asked me this....

A pile of water damaged prints, color, done "by the camera store" within the last 10 years more or less. Now they are all stuck together and are dried that way. I don't know what process was used on these, whatever "camera stores" were doing back then.

What is the best way to unstick them?

Thanks.

[Daniel Stone]

if they're wet prints(fuji or kodak, konica or agfa paper), try some crap ones by putting them in some water(just a tray of water, cool 20C~). They should soon float apart. DON'T TRY TO SEPARATE THEM, THEY SHOULD SEPARATE NATURALLY. You can tear off the emulsion from the backing(rc) base. Therefore ruining your picture.

I've done this with old prints, and then just let them air dry. Or help them along with a COOL hairdryer(no heat whatsoever) 10-12" away from the prints, sitting on a towel.

try it with BAD prints 1st though. Then, if it works, they can proceed to the better ones. And also, tell them to put their prints in a drier, less damp environment for storage

if they're the new(ish) 'DRY Process', IDK what would work best honestly...

-Dan

[BetterSense]

I would suggest putting them in a tray or bucket of water and being patient and gentle.

[dsphotog]

Instead of water, I've had better success when using RA-4 Stabilizer for this.
You should be able to get a small amount from a local photofinishing lab.