5 Ways to Read a Faded Receipt
Family child care providers need to save their business receipts for at least three years after filing their taxes. In some states you must save your records for four years. What happens, however, if your receipts fade and you can't read them later? Will the IRS be sympathetic if you are audited? No!
What to do? You can make copies of your receipts, scan them into your computer, or take a picture of the receipt with your phone.
Or, you can try one of these five methods to try to read a faded receipt:
Take a digital photo of the receipt and upload it to your computer. Use photo manipulation software to adjust the image’s darkness so you can read the receipt.
Hold your receipt about an arm’s length away from a blow dryer. Start on the lowest heat setting, just in case, and point it at the receipt. The dry heat should cause the ink image to slowly reappear.
You can use a scanner to upload a receipt and manipulate the image settings like you would for a photo. You can also scan a receipt with a black piece of paper behind it. The heat from the scanner and amount of light allowed through the receipt should produce a readable image.
Place a non-fluffy, thin towel on top of the receipt and place a heated iron on top. The heat from the iron will help the ink show up better and become legible again. This tactic is good for receipt paper that has faded ink but is otherwise in good condition.
Run the receipt through a laminate pouch in a laminator. The heat from the machine will make the image visible. Before you try the methods that require heat application, it is a good idea to cut a little section of your receipt to make sure you will get the results you want. The last thing you need is a singed receipt – that is even more difficult to read.
Tom Copeland - www.tomcopelandblog.com
Image credit: https://www.treehugger.com/can-receipts-be-recycled-5072255