Document restoration is best left to professionals who have extensive knowledge of how to dry wet documents. Improper drying methods can cause even more damage to your already compromised files; if you don’t know how to dry wet documents, you can actually hinder rather than help the restoration process.
Our newest document restoration tool – a state-of-the-art, one-of-a-kind vacuum freeze drying system – is the best method available for drying water-damaged books and large volumes of wet documents. Vacuum freezing drying for wet documents is a relatively new and extremely high-tech process that involves freezing the materials and then reducing the surrounding pressure, which causes the frozen water to evaporate directly, without reverting to its liquid state. Old, irreplaceable documents, antique books and clay-coated paper are best served by the vacuum freeze drying process.
Our newest technology brings with it many benefits, including:
Variable settings. Being able to control the vacuum freeze drying process with various settings is crucial to protecting documents and books during restoration. For example, older books need to be slowly and carefully dried, whereas newer books can be dried more quickly and can withstand more freezing. With our vacuum freeze drying technology, wet documents and books are frozen immediately and then carefully dried, avoiding the in-between stage at which semi-wet documents can easily tear or bleed. Our vacuum chamber also scales the drying process based on real-time data; if your documents are drying more quickly than expected, the pressure will be adjusted accordingly.
Large capacity. When large volumes of books or documents need drying, our vacuum freeze drying system has plenty of space to accommodate them. On average, 1,000-2,000 cubic feet of documents and books are vacuum freeze dried every month.
Expert knowledge.
At Polygon, we know how to dry wet documents. Our team has the experience needed to carefully control and monitor the vacuum freeze drying process. As documents and books are drying, computer systems closely monitor weight changes and moisture levels to gauge when the drying process is complete. This cuts down on over-drying and possible document damage that can occur with other methods.
