Customer Reviews

Saving Stuff: How to Care for and Preserve Your Collectibles, Heirlooms, and Other Prized Possessions

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The Smithsonian name (author is senior conservator there) ensures you're getting top quality advice. The instructions are detailed and straight forward, making this a great reference book. The boxed sections give Smithsonian stories of rescuing artifacts and also "Don's Tips" to supplement the text.

Browsing through this book, you'll find ways to take care of everything precious to you from your vintage comic books to Grandma's quilt to your tattered teddy bear.

The book helps you decide which of your items are worth keeping, and how to decide what should be given away or just junked. It gives advice for saving photographs and films and how to save toys. It covers preservation of furniture, fine art, musical instruments, textiles, sports and political memorabilia, and coins and stamps. If it is books, comic books or newspapers you want to save, it gives advice for that as well.

I find this topic fascinating and have created my own web page about saving World War II letters.

Being a lover of auctions and yard sales, I have found some great furniture and old prints that needed some restorative attention. I often used traditional cleaning methods, thinking I was doing just fine. This book keeps you from making good-intentioned destructive "repairs" to your potential treasures. The author's experience at the Smithsonian and the other great enclave of American arts restoration, Winterthur, should convince readers that this guy knows his stuff! I like diagrams and how-to photos to reassure me that I am doing things right. The lack of these is my only criticism.

Saving Stuff has excellent advice by the senior curator of the Smithsonian Institiute on how to care for collectables and heirlooms. It is written in a very readable, chatty way and can be used as reference without having to read the entire book but I'm glad I'm reading the whole thing, anyway. Often, he will tell you several ways of preserving an item, depending on how much effort or expense you wish to go to. I initially bought this for the genealogical collection for our local library but may buy myself a copy as well.

If you're a collector or just a hoarder, this book will provide you with everything you need to know to both rescue and protect your treasures. From great-garandmother's crocheted popcorn stitch bedspread to that newspaper with the story of the Hindenburg disaster, learn how to treat them in the best possible way using commonplace tools and materials. Worth every penny!

"The most comprehensive book on preserving every type of collectible..." Don Williams, Senior Conservator of the Smithsonian Institution, has written a concise volume dealing with how to preserve everything from baseball cards to furniture. Easy to understand preservation practices. No hard to understand museum jargon. An excellent work for anyone who collects anything or the small museum.

This will tell you what you need to know in order to preserve family items as well as how to decide which of those items are important enough to preserve....."importance" is in the eye of the person using this book. A great reference for sure, and tells you where to buy the speciality items needed to properly store and care for your"stuff". Love it.
CSAWGEN

I am not one to enjoy "how to books." But I must say that this tome held me completely captivated. The folksy, down-to-earth writing combined with the stories and expertise of the Smithsonian Institute interweave into a rich tapestry that kept me reading all night. What a surprise! Really a fun book. And informative too. I'd highly recommend it.

The anecdotes make the otherwise somewhat tedious technical information come alive! I plan to keep one on my shelf and have a supply to give as wedding/baby/new home gifts. We all need this information at one time or another. Thanks Louisa and Don for making it easy to find AND easy to read/understand.

This book is excellent. It is easy to understand, cheap to implement, comprehensive, and effective. The book covers maintenance as well as storage. I wish my ancestors had been able to access to this book.

The credentials of this author should be enough to influence your purchase. He gives easy to understand instructions, tells you what to avoid doing to preserve your treasures. This is a wonderful reference book. Glad I got it!