removing old photos from sticky old photosalbums

[PictureMom]

Anyone remember the old photograph books that were sticky with plastic overlays? I have several that I want to take the photos out, but I am afraid to damage them. Anyone have safely removed photos from these albums?

[LynnZant]

You are brave to try! I would just try and take a new pic with my good camera or even my phone. Or scan the entire page if you have a scanner. Good luck!

[HavaDrPepper]

Yes, I spent time doing it about 25 years ago. I used a product called "Goo-B-Gone". Evidently it is now called "Goo Gone". Mine had a little scraper that came with it for the really tough ones.

Some photos were stuck too much and tore some but for the most part, I was able to rescue almost all of the photos. If I remember right, what worked best was to saturate at least one edge/2 corners and let it sit even overnight if needed.

It will not be an easy job for the most part. I spent about a month working on it a few hours at a time.

[aussiegirl]

I would do Lynn's suggestion 1st (scan or take photos of the originals). Then if you wanted, you can try to gently remove the photos. My mom removed hers from these style of albums so many years ago, without scanning or taking a photo and many of the photos ripped or tore.

Good luck!

[Cath]

thought i read years ago, lifting with aid of dental floss. i too ruined alot of photos from them binders. scan/taking photo off, not a option years ago.

[bestcee]

I would take a photo first for sure! Goe Gone is a great product for removing adhesives but it's oil based. There's also one called Un-do, but they don't advertise as safe for the front of photos.

My mom did the heat and dental floss version. She heated the page gently with a blow dryer to loosen the glue, then used dental floss and slid it underneath to pull up the photo. Obviously, you have to be careful of too much heat, but it worked pretty good for her. If a photo wasn't lifting, she would do the rest on the page, and then she could give just that photo more heat to loosen it.

[Memaw2Wm]

My mom did the heat and dental floss version. She heated the page gently with a blow dryer to loosen the glue, then used dental floss and slid it underneath to pull up the photo. Obviously, you have to be careful of too much heat, but it worked pretty good for her. If a photo wasn't lifting, she would do the rest on the page, and then she could give just that photo more heat to loosen it.

Friend of mine used this method and didn't ruin any photos. I have 5-6 of those old "magnetic" albums from the 1970s to remove photos from, and plan to use this method.

[Txcorey]

I've had success with dental floss. You can also google it and look at various methods.

[jema]

I am removing old photos from old sticky albums and so far the gentle heat and dental floss have worked.

[TraceyM]

Take photo of old photo first as a just in case.
Some might come up just fine.
If you feel any resistance at all slide dental floss back & forth underneath.
If you think that is not working, buy Un-do. It won't damage photos and is a miracle worker better than ANY other product around.
https://www.amazon.com/Original-Formula-Sticker-Remover-California/dp/B003TZQPTS