It is all in a WW1 trunk from my grand grandfather that is in really bad shape. It's wood with metal run around the edges. Is there anyway to clean it without damaging the wood or the painted on markings?
Also the photos are rolled up in tubes and probably have been that way for decades. I'm kinda scared to unroll them and just throw them on a scanner. What is the safest way to try to copy/scan them without damaging them?
Also I have a bunch of metal uniform items (pins and stuff) that are also old and dirty. What is the safest way to clean them without damaging them?
Finally there are a ton of old books and orders. Room temperature in zip lock bags?
All of this stuff has been mistreated as hell unfortunately. It was kept outside in the elements the last few years because people suck.
Do not clean the pins and stuff! At least do not try to clean them yourself. If you want to restore items take them to a professional. If you ever intend on selling them doing a homemade cleaning session will almost certainly and significantly depreciate the value and, honestly, unless you are qualified you're probably going to mess something up.
My suggestion is you go to a nearby museum and ask them for help or for references to professionals. Seriously you could probably do this on your own but why take the risk? You only have one shot. Nearby museums, art preservationists, or history departments in a nearby university would all love to help you with this! If you live in Central Florida I can refer you to one of my old professors who would absolutely love to help you with those pictures and books.
Archivist here. I never attempted any restoration but we did store thousands of old photos and Ive had the pleasure of handling a few really old ones myself. The oldest ive had was from 1867 of a pioneer family in rural Canada. This photo was stored within a family bible for well over a century and stood up fairly well considering. Photos are fairly tough in terms of the material that theyre made from; it is exposure to the sun and humidity that damage it the worst.
/u/bhender explains virtually how we flatten curled photos. If you can at all, use soft gloves. This protects from the moisture of your hands, as well as allowing your hands to essentially slide across the photo without damaging it. Future preservationists who would love these photos will thank you for it.
Your goal when handling the document is to touch it as little as possible; pretend it is about to crumble into ashes and exaggerate your caution. It would be a good idea to flatten the photo before you scan it so see if you can get a larger book to slide the photo in. It could sometimes take days for the picture to flatten properly; from here see if you can get a plastic sheet protector that you can put into a binder. These are what we at the archives stored the photos in for ease of access. Others we put in letter envelopes. It would be preferable if you could scan the photos inside the plastic sleeve as to minimize the risk of damaging the photos. Once they are digitized, find a cool dark place to store them in. I keep my own personal WWII documents and photos in a safe I have, but im a little over the top. We also have a fair bit of WWII German documents including my grandmothers passport identifying her as a non-Jewish German; we have a box with cloth in the bottom and the document on top and another layer of cloth followed by a book etc. This has been the way its been stored since the 1960's and they look virtually as good as they day they were given.
We never attempted restoration of metals but we did occasionally clean some items we had like brass and steel. Usually warm water to wipe down and white vinegar to clean it. We had third party opinions on the restoration of other objects and if it was even worthwhile. Sometimes attempted restoration will strip everything away and end up ruining the item.
In any event, I would scan every picture and page, as well take multiple photographs of each item. Store them as best you can and then only use the digital copies. If you do get them copied, you should throw then on reddit somewhere; I would very much like to see them! Good luck and have fun.
I don't know what you plan to do with the material, but do try to wear gloves when handling the pictures, documents. If you can't wear them because you don't have any, make sure you hands are washed and bone dry.
More recent documents may be sturdier, but I almost exclusively handle 9-13th century manuscripts, I had the whole gloved/clean & dry hands drilled into me.
