How does water damage a book?
Water is one of the worst ways to damage a book. Once the book dries from the water damage, it’s left with completely wrinkled pages.
Photograph by Daniel Oines
The next thing that happens is mold sets it. Mold is highly infectious–it spreads widely and can destroy an entire library collection.
Water damaged book from Hurricane Katrina, photography by Karl Niederer
The best protection for books from water damage is to never mix the two. Keep a glass of water away or below from the reading material. When carrying books in a bag or backpack, don’t add a water bottle to the bag. Hold the water bottle separately or in a separate bag altogether. Never bring a book into a body of water, a swimming pool, or bathtub. Basically it’s best not to mix the two.
Unfortunately, spilling water while reading e-books on an e-reader will also result in water damage for the device!
Water Damage, Repair Zoom. Digital image. RepairZoom.
RepairZoom. Web. 13 Oct. 2011. <https://www.irepairworks.com/ipad-water-damage-repair-p-172.html>.
Interesting post !!! i love to see it, when people need such type of site. which has great information about this topic… Great for new generation..
Thanks..
Is there anyway to improve or fix the pages once they are rippled from drying once the water damage occurs? Could you steam them a bit and put them under a heavy weight?
Dear Librarian Reply:
June 8th, 2012 at 3:23 pm
Unfortunately, no. Water causes permanent damage. Steaming would also cause further rippling–since it’s water. xo DL