Thanks John but that it pretty vague for my limited experience/knowledge, any chance of narrowing down the "material" for me please as I sort of know what you mean but don't, if that makes sense.
Some of the white envelopes they are in (started yesterday) are a little damp but none of the plaques have changed as far as I can see since cleaning started over a week or so. Obviously the smell is pretty overpowering as all together as I said, they don't "taste" too nice either.
When wiped to get any goo off form the inks that have run, then wiped with wet cloth (and good old fairy liquid) and dried as quickly as possible it seems to work well. There was 1x £100 that obviously wasn't quite dry enough (there's always one) and the top layer has lifted on one edge which is a pity as it was perfect before. The sacrificial one I hope but I will keep checking over the next few days just in case it is better to put in a colder environment. Again advice welcomed from anybody with previous experience in this matter. I have been offered 2 other possible options but it seems that neither work that well if not done properly and I don't want to mess it up now.
The only main "issues" with them so far seem to be a dull look, ink spots/blotches on back, sticky or brown edges from the tape used which seems to come off okay if more thorough when cleaning, I just couldn't keep it up so gave up. I will probably clean again before photos so they look as good as possible. Plenty of warping and "middle push" or whatever it is called on some but the perfect ones are exactly that, perfect!! Oh and the £50s have "colour run" (seeped) lots which means it is the hardest one to find in great condition (but there are some) and the £500s red runs/seeped out of a lot but if I didn't know the unicorns were actually red then the brown ones would look fine to me, just a little "washed out" but still pleasant on the eyes overall. These issues make the difference in price and lots are quite subtle so the more on a plaque the less it is. Some of the £50s were making the cloths yellow too so less water and more care was taken with these. That was only when they were already the worst condition ones though and nothing would improve them. Most actually looked better afterwards so hopefully it was colour fro the others. Again, thanks for the "help" but more info would be appreciated if you have the time and it is possible. Have a good one.
Sorry about the length of this but every time I talk about these there are things that need to be mentioned and I feel the more information the better as opposed to less as it works better in this sort of scenario so it ensures that everybody knows the score.