In a perfect world, all postcards would be pristine, in mint condition. In the real world, postcards suffer the slings and arrows of age and outrageous handling. Some of the bumps and bruises are better left alone, while other minor wounds can be healed with a light touch of TLC; but some injuries are life-threatening to the card, and demand your intervention.

The trouble is, how do you know which wounds are which?

In this guide, I have outlined some of the most common injuries you’ll see on a paper postcard and prescribed simple and reasonably safe “Rx techniques” to fix them. Please note that these techniques are intended only for use on paper postcards, not those rare specialty cards made of leather or birch bark or metal.

I have also created a “First Aid Kit” of supplies that you can safely use to heal postcards or other paper-based ephemera. Fortunately, almost all of these are common household items!

But before we go on, I must ask you to agree to two conditions.

1. First, Do No Harm. A clumsy, messy fix is worse than no fix at all. Only one of the following postcard conditions MUST be fixed; the rest are optional. If you aren’t sure what to do, or doubt that you can do it, do nothing.
2. Second, Be a Truthful Seller. Cleaning is one thing; actual repair, like gluing, is another. You should probably only attempt to repair cards in your own permanent collection because you love them and can’t replace them with a better copy. However, if you do decide to sell a card you’ve repaired, you should describe that repair truthfully and completely in your sale listing.

"First Aid Kit" for Paper Postcards

• Distilled water
• Polymer or vinyl eraser (I like Pentel's Hi-Polymer eraser; Sanford's Magic Rub is a good vinyl brand.)
• Art gum eraser
• Cotton swabs and/or cotton balls
• Thin-bladed butter knife or artist’s palette knife
• Paper towels
• Thin cloth towel, such as a dish towel
• Archival quality acid-free glue (there are lots of brands to choose from: I like Delta’s Archival Quality Photo Safe Glue and Lineco Neutral pH Adhesive.)
• Toothpicks
• Release paper (like the backing sheet that carries computer labels through your printer), or substitute waxed paper.
• Flat weights, such as heavy books

A Postcard First Aid Kit might include
cotton swabs, plastic and art gum erasers, toothpicks,
a thin-bladed butter knife, and archival-quality glue.

Diagnosing & Treating Postcard Injuries

Price Markings By Silly Sellers, or Kid Scribbles

A caring seller who feels it necessary to mark prices or eBay auction numbers on precious postcards will first write on a protective sleeve, then slip the postcard into the sleeve. (Doing this the other way round can press permanent indentations into the card.)

This seller wrote a booth number & price directly on the postcard ... !

Other sellers – more often those at flea markets than on eBay – will write booth numbers and/or prices directly onto the card itself. (Sigh.) If the silly seller, or a careless child, used a blunt, soft lead pencil, however, these markings can be easily removed using a polymer or vinyl eraser.

• Rx Technique: Place the postcard on a clean, firm and level surface, such as a desk or table top. Lightly rub the eraser in one direction only across the offending pencil marks. Don’t scrub. Brush away rubbings constantly as you work.

Warning: Scrubbing too hard, or rubbing back-and-forth repeatedly over eraser crumbs, can permanently abrade the surface of the card.

Light Surface Soil

Vintage postcards, especially those used postally, often are grimy from repeated handling and improper storage. Oftentimes this dirt can be carefully removed using an art gum eraser, the softest you can find. (Art gum erasers are the crumbly kind.)

• Rx Technique: Carefully follow the instructions given above for removing pencil marks, but in this case work lightly over as much of the card’s surface as needed, starting each stroke at the inner portion of the postcard and working outwards towards the edge. Go slowly. Brush away the rubbings more frequently, as art gum erasers make more crumbs than polymer erasers.

Paper Glued To Back

Postcard collectors of the early days were fond of storing their cards in albums. Unfortunately, some pasted or glued their cards directly to the paper pages of the album. When the cards were removed from the album, the album paper and the glue remained stuck to the back of the postcard.

The original owner of this real photo postcard glued it
into an album with thick, black paper pages.

This is the one type of postcard damage that you MUST repair, as the acidity of the old paper and antique glue WILL gradually eat away at the card. Fortunately, antique glues were water-based; modern, plastic-based glues cannot be removed with these methods.

So, take a deep breath, examine your card carefully, then try one of these two Rx Techniques.

• Rx Technique 1: If you find that the paper is thin or only lightly attached to the back of the card, you’re in luck. Try this less-risky approach to removing it.

Spread a thin, clean cloth towel, such as a dish towel, on your work surface. Get a small bowl of distilled water, a number of cotton swabs, and a butter knife or an artist’s palette knife. Place the postcard face down on the towel. Dip a swab into the distilled water, then blot it lightly on the toweling to remove excess moisture (you don’t want it dripping wet). Now gently press the damp swab against the album paper. Repeat to lightly dampen a small area of the album paper. When it has softened, try carefully scraping away the paper and glue with the knife blade, held at a 45-degree angle to the card. Repeat until all of the paper is removed.

When done, sandwich the card between layers of paper towel. Place a flat weight, like a heavy book, over the paper toweling until the card is dry, to prevent warping. Check the card frequently, don’t forget about it! And be sure the card is completely dry before replacing it in your album or plastic sleeve.

Warning: You must work carefully to avoid scraping the card’s surface.

• Rx Technique 2: If the album paper is thick, or heavily glued to the card, you could be in for a nerve-wracking operation. You may want to practice this technique on a less-precious card first!

Lay out the towel as above. This time, choose a waterproof container large enough to hold the postcard without bending. Fill it with warm distilled water. Take a deep breath, then float the postcard on the surface of the water, image side up, album paper side down. Let it float only long enough to wet the backing paper, try not to soak the card. When the paper has softened, place the card face down on the towel and try rubbing the paper and glue away with the ball of your thumb. If that doesn’t work, gently peel away the paper and glue with your knife blade, holding it at a 45-degree angle. Repeat as needed, then dry as instructed above.

Warning: If the card was written on with ink, you may not want to use this second technique, which is guaranteed to make water-based ink run. (Fountain pens and felt-tip pens commonly use water-based ink.) Use the first technique instead.

The Good News: This technique is actually safer on a real-photo postcard (RPPC), as these were originally printed in a wet developing bath and so are more impervious to water. Also, RPPCs were less frequently addressed or mailed, so your chance of having ink on the back, UNDER the album paper and glue, is much less.

Stains

Postcards can acquire the most peculiar stains in their travels! Sometimes these can be removed, sometimes they can’t. If you believe the stain is water-based and particularly disfiguring, try this remedy; if not, learn to live with it.

• Rx Technique: Use the same approach and materials as Rx Technique 1 for removing paper and glue, above. Again using distilled water, dampen the stained area with a cotton swab or cotton ball, then blot gently with a paper towel. Work on a tiny area first, to see what happens.

If the stain is particularly stubborn and is on the BACK of the card, mix a few drops of household bleach into the distilled water. (In no case should your water - bleach mixture be stronger than 20:1). This is a riskier technique, so test your mixture on a tiny, unobtrusive area of the stain. When done, dry the card under weight as instructed above.

Warning: Do NOT try to clean the image side of a hand-painted card or one embellished with tinsel or glitter. Do NOT use the bleach-and-water mixture on the image side, only on the verso (back side) of the card.

Card Splitting

Sometimes you’ll find the card of your dreams, only to discover that the printed image surface is slightly splitting away from the card, usually at the corners. This is particularly common with chrome cards, or cards that have been inserted repeatedly into album slots. If the splitting is limited, try this technique.

• Rx Technique: Using a toothpick or other finely pointed tool, insert a tiny dab of acid-free archival glue between the splitting layers of the postcard. Try not to push the split farther open! Now squeeze the split layers together, and immediately wipe away any excess glue that squeezes out. Place the card between two sheets of waxed paper or release paper, and weight under a book until completely dry.

Tiny Tears

I don’t mean the little tears you cry when you find a corner missing from your favorite card, boo hoo, I mean the little tear left behind by that separated corner. If the tear is clean and you have both pieces, you can repair it with archival glue, following the Rx Technique given above for Splitting.

Go Forth, and Preserve

Let me repeat the first rule: do no harm! Some damage, once done, simply can’t be undone. Try to appreciate the flaws of your vintage postcard as signs of character and maturity, and repair only when really necessary.

And finally, your primary obligation to these unique historical documents is to store them responsibly. That means each in an alkaline paper, polyester (like Mylar) or PVC-free plastic sleeve, or in an archival quality album. If you store in boxes, they should be made of alkaline, lignin-free paperboard, or metal; not wood. Don’t cram storage boxes over-full, or leave them half-empty so that the cards slump and curl. Visit the outer reaches of your collection regularly; check for signs of dampness or bugs, and act immediately if you find them.

The ideal environment for paper storage is currently believed to be at a temperature of 68 degrees F, and a relative humidity ranging from 30 to 50%. Great, if you live in a library! If you don’t, then the most important thing is to remember that it is extreme changes in temperature and humidity that hurt postcards and other paper collectibles most: that is, alternating spells of hot and cold, damp and dry. That rules out your attic and basement as storage space, okay? Your goal is to provide a stable environment for long-term preservation.

Resources & References

• Find general archival supplies, as well as specialty postcard supplies on eBay. Don't overlook the scrapbooking, camera & photo, or art & craft categories!
• For more suggestions on safe postcard storage, read the eBay Member’s Guide to Preserving Your Postcard Collection.
• Postcard collector’s books, like Marian Klamkin’s Picture Postcards, often have a reference chapter on card preservation. (Check the publication date to be sure you have the latest info.)