The color change of paper aged under various conditions of temperature and relative humidity is studied; the effectiveness of washing for removing color is assessed. Color production occurs in a manner typical for the deterioration of organic materials under conditions ranging from 50-90°C and from 30-80per thousand RH at 3 specific dew points. The rate of color change and the shape of the color change curves vary with the specific conditions. The best single predictor of color change is dew point. Color change can be partially reversed by washing, but the degree of reversal decreases with increasing color. Those samples with the greatest color change had the lowest percentage of color removed by washing. In addition, the aging conditions affect the degree to which color change can be reversed by washing. Samples aged under different proportions of soluble colored material. An increased dew point resulted in increased color production. If the results found for the artificial aging conditions studied apply to room condition and if the color change results are found to be characteristic of other chemical degradation processes then dew point would be the best predictor of chemical stability in storage. To minimize deterioration, therefore, the storage environment should be based upon the lowest feasible dew point rather than on the choice of a specific relative humidity. -- CAL