3 Tips For Scrapbooking Material

I absolutely love scrapbooking and since yesterday was National Scrapbooking Day, I think I'll publish an article here on behalf of the "holiday".

3 Tips For Scrapbooking Material
By Elizabeth Stewart


When buying scrapbooking material, you should really read the labels to ensure you are getting top quality material. There are plenty of scrapbook stores, along with the big box chain retailers selling scrapbooking supplies right now and rightfully so. Did you know the number of people scrapbooking has continued to grow at a steady rate over the past 4 years? Because of this, and so many new people getting started, you are now seeing scrapbook stores popping up all over the place. So, when shopping, here is what to look for in scrapbooking material.

1. Acid Free Products: This is paper having a basic or neutral pH around 7.0 or higher. This is extremely important in helping to preserve your documents and pictures. Almost all paper manufactured now is acid free. This is due to a shift of using China clay to a cheaper chalk. Which makes sense: when your stomach is upset, or you have heartburn, you take Tums, which is essentially chalk. This chalk helps to remove the acidity from your stomach, just like it does the paper.



2. Lignin Free: This really goes with acid-free, as they are sort of the same thing. Lignin is a main component in the walls of the plants, including trees. While a very good strength component, this chemical compound must be removed from wood pulp, which in turn is used to make paper. If the sun hits this lignin, it will start to turn yellow. Have you seen those older photo albums, which are now yellow? This is why. And if the pictures are yellow as well, it is the photo paper, which was not lignin free, as well as the acidity of the photo album paper causing this.



3. Buffered: This means the paper has been treated with an extra chemical, such as bicarbonate, which will increase the papers alkaline reserves. The reason for this is to help protect the paper from any other acids in the environment or in the paper itself.

These 3 things should be the first key phrases you are checking for when you are buying scrapbooking materials: acid free, lignin free, and buffered. They may cost a bit more, but how valuable are your pictures? Why spend the time taking the pictures, then placing them into a scrapbook, only to have them deteriorating in the next 5 years? Take care of them now. Preserve them now, and keep them in their original state for as long as possible. Just make sure you are buying quality scrapbooking material.


For more information about scrapbooking, visit Making A Creative Memory

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