A book that has been caught in the rain or accidentally splashed can look like a lost cause at first glance, with swollen pages and a warped cover, yet many books recover remarkably well if the right steps are taken quickly rather than left until later.
The first step is to gently blot away any excess surface water with a clean, absorbent cloth, taking care never to rub the pages, as wet paper tears and smudges far more easily than dry paper. Rubbing at this stage tends to cause more damage than the water itself.
Drying slowly prevents further damage Standing the book upright with the pages fanned out slightly allows air to circulate between them, which speeds up drying considerably compared with leaving the book closed and flat. A cool, dry room away from direct sunlight or any direct heat source is by far the best environment for this process.
Interleaving particularly wet sections with absorbent paper, changed every few hours, draws moisture out of the pages far more effectively than air alone, though this extra step is really only necessary for the most badly soaked books. Patience matters here, since rushing the drying process with heat often causes far more warping than slow, natural drying ever would.
Once fully dry, a book that has been treated gently will usually keep most of its shape, even if a slight ripple remains in the paper. This small imperfection is a fair trade for saving a book that might otherwise have been thrown away entirely.
Placing a few heavy, flat objects on top of the closed book once it is mostly dry, with sheets of absorbent paper between the pages, helps press out any remaining ripples over the following days. This final pressing stage is often the difference between a book that looks slightly worn and one that looks almost untouched by the accident it survived.
