A tip for those with old self stick photo albums

[Quiet Em]

My husband bought me a photo scanner and I'm in the process of scanning them all. What a chore.

Those ridiculous self stick photo albums from years ago are a pain in the ass. But I read a tip and it works great. Dental floss. If you can find a loose corner, sliding dental floss underneath the photo can help you remove them with ease. Occassional there are a few that put up a struggle, but I go slowly and patiently and I haven't ripped or destroyed any photos by doing it this way.

[CareyOn]

1. Turns out there are multiple uses for dental floss

Tim Walz says one can remove the Tesla emblem on their Tesla using the floss and don't have to worry about harming the paint.

Thanks for the great tip Quiet Em.

[Quiet Em]

2. lol. Tim Walz cracks me up.

You're welcome.

[2naSalit]

3. There is a product...

I used to use in print shops I worked in that was used to remove wax and goo from paper without leaving a sign. It's called Bestine and you can probably find it in a craft shop or stationery/office supply store. I use it for getting the goo off of things like labels that don't come off all the way or waxy things, it dissolves wax. I wear gloves but it isn't any more harmful than isopropyl alcohol.

Might help you preserve the originals.

[Quiet Em]

7. Thank you.

That's a great tip. Some of the glue on the backs of the photos that were in the self stick albums rubs off pretty easily after being exposed to air, but there are others that I may try that product on. I want to get them as clean as I can before I put them in the scanner.

[MayReasonRule]

4. 2nd That Recommendation!

Works great!

[flor-de-jasmim]

5. Thanks for the tip!

I know what you mean about it being a chore. A few months ago I scanned over 15;000 photos, slides and negatives, and I still need to go through the self-stick albums, so it’s good to have a hint to minimize the effort.

[SWBTATTReg]

6. Whoa! This took you a long time! But I bet you're glad you got it done, and now, you have the digital equivalents

of these pics of yours, which now, you can do so much w/ them, format, place into different formats, and in short, enjoy them more!

I need to do this too. One day....