How to Flatten Crumpled Paper

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Are you holding in your hand a piece of paper that you wish you hadn’t accidentally sat on, crumpled, folded, even folded into an airplane? Usually, the paper will work and look pretty flat after being lightly moistened with distilled water and then pressed between heavy books or flattened under the cloth. These methods carry the risk of tearing and fading the paper, so you should be careful. With important documents, you may need to take it to a file archivist to have them handle it.

Table of Contents

Flatten paper

Use distilled water to lightly mist the paper. When paper is crumpled, the fibers of the paper are damaged and torn. Water can soften the fibers and help them lie flat, thereby reducing wrinkles and folds. ^{[1] X Research Source} You should only use distilled water, as regular tap water contains minerals that can brittle or harden paper. ^{[2] X Trusted Source US National Park Service Go to source} Use a spray bottle to lightly spray the paper with water at a distance of at least 30 cm, or lightly blot the paper with a damp cloth.

Warning: Water can damage materials such as watercolors, chalks, pastels, water-soluble inks. If you have these materials on the paper, you need to spray water very lightly on the back of the paper. You can also dry-press to flatten the paper, but this won’t remove the wrinkles.

Clip the paper between the absorbent materials. If the paper is wet, sandwich it between two layers of absorbent paper, felt, or other absorbent material. ^{[3] X Trusted Source US National Park Service Go to Source}

Paper towels are also effective, but the pattern on the tissue can print onto the surface of the paper. ^{[4] X Research Sources}

Press paper between heavy objects. Place the paper sandwiched between the absorbent material on a hard, flat surface. Smooth out with your hands to make sure there are no large creases or wrinkles. Use something heavy, flat, and able to completely cover the paperweight on top. You can use a large and heavy stack of books for this purpose.

Check daily while waiting for the paper to dry. The paper will dry and be almost wrinkle-free, but it may take some time. You should check daily and change absorbent material if wet to the touch.

Completely wet paper can take three or four days to dry, but lightly misted paper can dry in less than two days. ^{[5] X Research Sources}

Flat sheet of paper

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Understand the risks of this approach. When you iron the paper underneath a towel or piece of fabric, the paper will be relatively flat, but often wrinkles will still be present. Wrinkles can be removed by steaming or wetting the paper as described near the end of this section, but the chances of ink smearing and tearing are also increased.

For valuable or non-replaceable paper, you’ll need to test on a piece of paper first, or use another, longer but safer pressing method.

Place the paper under a towel or piece of cloth. Smooth the paper as flat as possible to avoid further creases. Spread a handkerchief, pillowcase, or other heat-resistant fabric to protect the paper from direct heat from the iron.

Set the iron on low heat. You should start with the lowest heat to limit the risk of damaging the paper. Excessive heat can cause the paper to dry out, becoming brittle and yellow.

Press the iron onto the towel. Once the iron is hot, press it onto a towel and iron it like a garment.

Adjust the iron if necessary. After a minute of ironing, pick up the iron and examine the paper. If it’s not flat, you can increase the heat one more level and try again. If the paper feels warm to the touch, set the iron to low heat and lightly dab or spray a little distilled water on the paper before ironing. This will help smooth out wrinkles but increase the risk of tearing the paper.

Do not use water on paper surfaces with watercolors, chalks, or other water-soluble materials.

Learn about professional conservation treatment

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Bring important documents to a professional to handle. Archivists and restoration specialists are people who specialize in the preservation of artefacts, including paper. They can flatten and preserve very well any paper material, including watercolor paper, old or tearable paper, and other objects that may be difficult to flatten safely at home.

Search online for clerical services in your area or ask a librarian to help you.

Learn about humidification techniques. As mentioned in other methods, wetting the paper or “wetting” the paper can help smooth out wrinkles caused by torn or displaced fibers. Conservationists often use special tools and take extreme care to increase the moisture content of paper to high levels. If you’re brave enough and have a few pieces of paper to try first, you can imitate some of these methods at home before laminating. One of the easiest methods is the “Horton-style humidification” method. Place the rolled paper in an open plastic cup. Place the plastic cup in the plastic bucket, fill the bottom of the bucket with water and close the lid. ^{[6] X Research Source}

This can cause mold to grow and this is very difficult to treat at home. Some professionals use anti-mold chemicals such as thymp or ortho-phenyl phenp, but these chemicals are hazardous to the paper and the user if not used correctly. ^{[7] X Research Sources}

Learn how to handle paper when drying. The method of flattening the paper is usually effective. You can use clamps and attach weights if extra pressure is needed. Another method that can be used alone or with pressure is the glue method. When glued to another surface with a special adhesive that peels off easily after drying, the paper stays in place instead of curling or stretching as part of the paper loses water and shrinks. ^{[8] X Research Sources}

Even experts find it difficult to control the size change of paper after it is wetted. The individual sheets of paper are mostly unchanged, but you’ll notice a noticeable difference or unevenness if it’s a stack of paper, a book wrapper, or a large sheet of small sheets of paper glued together. ^{[9] X Research Source}

Store documents in dedicated storage envelopes. This is a widely available conservationist’s vehicle. You can buy good quality preservation envelopes to safely store important records, family history and other papers for decades, even centuries, moisture and UV resistant.

Advice

If you don’t have a lot of time or don’t have an iron to iron the paper as described above, you can use a simple way to smooth wrinkles, which is to run the paper several times over the edge of the table. The paper won’t be very flat, but it will reduce some of the wrinkles.
You can also try taking a photo of the paper. Photo shops or libraries often have large photocopiers that can flatten the paper if the home copier still leaves slight wrinkles.
If the paper has a fairly strong material, you can try running it through the printer, but it won’t print. The printer will smooth out most wrinkles. You need to be careful, because the paper can get jammed.

Warning

When you are printing paper with ink (photocopy ink, laser ink), the ink can melt under high heat and stick to the ironing board. To avoid this, start with a low temperature and gradually increase the temperature until the paper is flat.
Follow the manufacturer’s instructions when using the iron. Make sure the paper does not burn or catch fire. Children always need adult supervision.

Things you need

Iron
Ironing board or a suitable heat-resistant surface
Towel
Heavy objects
Aerosol
Distilled water

Steps