Cleaning old photos - restoring...info resources?

Coming back to this subject, having brought it up a few years ago here. Obviously, the intent is to do cleanups and fixes with software, but every place I went to inquire about the first steps would come back with, "Well, the first thing we do is use our ooper-dooper-quality hi-resolution scanner to..."...and that's not what I'm asking. So when I ask these supposed photography studios, what cleaning products or chemicals I should use to clean a photo first before taking them into the digital realm, all I get are blank stares.

I mean, if I have photos and portraits and daugerrotypes and snaps from the '40's, '50's, '60s and whatnot - and these experts have been around for that long and still operating a business, obviously they know what they used to do to restore family artifacts back before there even were scanners, right? So, what would they use before even committing the originals to scanning?

In my case, my wife brought back some albums from her Dad's house, which was literally a cabin in the woods, not even air-conditioned for years. I see some spots that aren't mold, or water specifically, just...well, they need to be cleaned-up physically before digitizing, to have the best chance of restoration. But, like many of you, I also have a box or two of history, from framed portraiture that sat on Grandma's shelf for years, to vacation and family photos growing grungy inside albums made of black construction paper.

Is there a resource I could find info for which sorts of pictures I could use specific products on...and which I should be warned against, so my pictures don't end up like that Spanish church lady "restored' that old fresco a few years back?

 

The first thing I thought of was Kodak Film Cleaner, but it's no longer made. This page from Kodak makes some recommendations and offers some warnings. Based upon the info on that page, maybe the easiest (as far as availability), cheapest solution is plain old rubbing alcohol or lighter fluid. To underline what Kodak states, different substances attached to the surface may require different solvents.

And, there is this product on Amazon, called PEC 12 (probably Photographic Emulsion Cleaner 12), made for negatives, motion picture film and prints. This is a good page from the PhotoSol web site to read.