Freeze-Drying

The first step in preserving documents that have been exposed to moisture is to immediately freeze the affected materials. This will greatly reduce the risk of mold growth. Documents should remain frozen until the drying process can be completed.
The frozen material is placed into a vacuum chamber where the freeze-drying process takes place. The time needed to completely dry materials varies according to the thickness of the material, type of paper and degree of saturation.

What is Freeze-Drying?

The fundamental principle in freeze-drying is sublimation, the shift from a solid directly into a gas. Just like evaporation, sublimation occurs when a molecule gains enough energy to break free from the molecules around it. Water will sublime from a solid (ice) to a gas (vapor) when the molecules have enough energy to break free but the conditions aren’t right for a liquid to form.

Why Freeze-Dry?

Freeze-Drying is a non-invasive technique with complete retention of form which means that your materials will remain in the same condition as when they were frozen.