Care and storage of glass negatives

Wesbflyer · Jul 13, 2019

My wife just inherited two boxes of B&W glass negatives, about 139x82 mm. They seem to be from the early 1900's. They have been stored in the original boxes, no separation or protection so show some scratches and spots. Also a few spots of what appears to be foreign material. What is the best way to clean these heirlooms to prepare for contact printing? What is the best way to store them?

guangong · Jul 14, 2019

While I was working as a cartographer at the American Geographical Society, then located on upper Broadway, a long neglected crate of glass negatives were discovered of pictures of the uniting of the transcontinental railroad. They were cleaned, printed and made into a book published by AGS. Storage was very much as in your case. Since glass is not very flexible, cracking of glass is a hazard. As I remember, some of the AGS plates were cracked. As for how to clean, I would contact people who do such restoration at a large museum.

Wesbflyer · Jul 14, 2019

Must have been an exciting discovery! Thank you for the story. I hope someone in this group will be able to help.

jimjm · Jul 14, 2019

If necessary, you can clean the glass side (non-emulsion) of the plates with a soft cloth and a bit of rubbing alcohol or windex. Don't spray directly onto the plate, just on the cloth. If wearing gloves, nitrile are probably best as cloth may snag on any loose flakes of emulsion on the plate. For the emulsion side, a blower bulb and a soft brush is all I would use to clean off any loose dirt or debris. If there is any flaking emulsion, be very careful using the brush.

For storage, I wrap each plate in an archival paper sleeve like this one from Talas online. Then they're stored in these boxes. University Products is also a good source for some of these items. Good luck!

Wesbflyer · Jul 15, 2019

Thanks very much for the guidance and the links. As these are family photos preservation is very important to us. I am preparing to make contact prints to preserve what we can.
Wes

Nodda Duma · Jul 15, 2019

All good advice. I’ll just add that making contact prints is the way to go. Then if you wanted to digitize the images you don’t need to handle the glass.

Regards,
Jason

Wesbflyer · Jul 15, 2019

Good suggestion Jason. I was kinda worried about putting them in my flatbed scanner. I am making a little frame to create white borders around each print to enhance the finished product.

Care and storage of glass negatives

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guangong

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Nodda Duma

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