Material
Paper
A fragile absorbent sheet that tears and skins when wet, so the entire method is drying and support rather than cleaning.
- SurfacePorous
- WashingNo water
- Colour run riskHigh
- Reviewed7 September 2026
What paper can and cannot take
- Heat Avoid
- Water and soaking Avoid
- Acids, including vinegar Avoid
- Strong alkalis Avoid
- Solvents Avoid
- Chlorine bleach Avoid
- Abrasives Avoid
Always test on a hidden area first and let it dry before you treat the visible mark.
General rules for paper
There is no cleaning stage here. Paper is dried, supported and left, and anything beyond that belongs to a conservator.
Get the liquid away from the sheet by laying it on absorbent material rather than by pressing anything onto it, keep air moving in the room, and do not touch the wet surface.
If several sheets are stuck together, do not pull them apart. Freeze them instead, which stops the damage and buys time.
Check the label
Archives are direct that paper is very fragile when wet and must be handled carefully. The recommended response to wet paper is air drying on absorbent material with fans circulating air near it rather than onto it, and freezing anything that cannot be dried within about two days.
Stains on paper
- Baby sick Do not wipe it. Wet paper tears and the surface skins off under any rubbing. Lift solids off with a soft brus...
- Blood Blot fresh blood with a dry white cloth and stop before adding water or cleaner. Paper can be permanently mar...
- Body oil Blot loose surface oil from paper only if the surface is stable and it can be touched without damage. An abso...
- Breast milk Touch a clean absorbent corner to free liquid only where this does not press on flaking paint, gilding, ink o...
- Bronzer Lift loose bronzer from paper before it is rubbed in. Blot cream bronzer, follow the material or care label,...
- Coffee Remove only free surface coffee from paper without rubbing or adding liquid. A dried or absorbed mark needs s...
- Concealer Lift loose concealer from Paper while dry and absorb fresh oil without rubbing. Do not add water or make-up r...
- Cooking grease Lift and absorb cooking grease from Paper without adding liquid. Water or solvent can enlarge the damage, so...
- Hair dye Blot Paper dry without rubbing or adding household cleaner. Keep the dye box and ask the appropriate leather,...
- Lipstick Lift lipstick from Paper while dry and absorb fresh oil without rubbing. Do not add water or make-up remover;...
- Motor oil Blot and absorb motor oil from Paper without adding liquid. Water, solvent or pressure can enlarge the damage...
- Nail polish Keep the sheet or board dry. Do not rub, scrape or apply solvent to bonded polish. Preserve a valuable origin...
- Period blood Blot fresh period blood with a dry white cloth and stop before adding water or cleaner. Paper can be permanen...
- Pet urine Blot fresh urine with plain white towel and stop before adding water or cleaner. Paper can be permanently mar...
- Sweat Blot sweat from Paper without adding liquid. Let it dry, remove only loose salt gently and refer a visible ri...
- Tomato sauce Lift dry and wet tomato residue from Paper without rubbing or adding liquid. Blot gently, then refer any visi...
Paper is a mat of cellulose fibres held together by their own bonding, and water undoes that temporarily.
Wet paper has almost no strength
Archives lead with this. A sheet that would take handling dry will tear under its own weight wet, and the surface lifts away under any rubbing.
Drying is the treatment
Air circulation on absorbent blotting material, with a fan in the room rather than aimed at the sheet, is the whole archival method. Heat is excluded because it cockles and embrittles paper.
Freezing is a legitimate answer
When material cannot be dried within a couple of days, archives freeze it to stop mould. That does not fix anything, but it stops the situation getting worse and it is available to anyone with a freezer.
Stain removal is a conservation procedure
Bleaching and washing paper are real techniques carried out under controlled conditions by people who can test the paper and the media first. They are not household jobs.
Similar materials
Sources
What we checked and when. Where a manufacturer instruction disagrees with anything here, follow the manufacturer.
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Emergency salvage of flood damaged family papers, US National Archives
authority
National archive guidance that paper is very fragile when wet and must be handled carefully, that wet material is air dried on absorbent blotting material with fans circulating air but not blowing directly onto it, that books are stood open on edge with interleaving replaced as it absorbs moisture, that material which cannot be dried within two days should be frozen to stop mould, and that photographic print surfaces must not be touched.
Checked 7 September 2026
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Surface cleaning of paper, Northeast Document Conservation Center
authority
Conservation centre guidance on dry surface cleaning of paper, establishing that surface cleaning is a mechanical dry process using soft brushes and erasers rather than liquids, that it is carried out with the object supported and worked from the centre outwards, and that it can abrade or skin weak paper and media, so friable, coated and damaged surfaces are left to a conservator.
Checked 7 September 2026
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Water damaged photo restoration, EverPresent
specialist
Photo restoration specialist advising that photographs which have stuck together and partly dried should not be pulled apart because the result can be disastrous, that prints are dried on absorbent material away from wind, pets and direct sunlight with the material replaced as it loads up, that blotting the surface risks harming the emulsion, that freezing stops the damage worsening and prevents mould, and that a digital copy is the reliable way to preserve the image.
Checked 7 September 2026