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Post by 57buick on Oct 25, 2023 2:19:46 GMT
So Ive been watching lots of videos and reading a lot of forum pages. I have quite a few vintage stamps that i found clumped together in envelopes from a garage sale that had weight on top of them for many years, they are stuck pretty good.
Ive been soaking several in a sweat box I put together. Most tutorials ive watched say to put the stamps face down on a paper towel then another on top and put a book or something on them. Two things Ive noticed, several stamps restick solid to the paper towel and several also end up with a shiny glossy face from the glue from the stamp that was stuck to it originally. How do I deal with these issues?
Should I just lay them lightly face down and not worry about the curling initially thus not covering them with a paper towel? Just let them dry a few minutes?
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rod222
Member 
Posts: 9,911 
What I collect: Worldwide Stamps, Ephemera and Catalogues
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Post by rod222 on Oct 25, 2023 2:39:50 GMT
PERSONAL JOURNEY ONLY (every collector has their own method)
Take from this what you will
1. The stamps are in a block, there is no rescue, forget gum, these need to be soaked
2. Inspect for any BADDIES material that will leak ink, (stamps on coloured envelopes etc)
3. ONLY use cold water, no washing liquid, nothing else
4. let soak for 10 mins, or wait till some stamps separate
5. Make sure gum is off each stamp, and lay wet on a CLEAN TEA TOWEL (LIGHTLY tap off excess water
5. Make a "SOAKING SANDWICH"
Old book that will take an A4 page of printer paper
PURCHASE a bag of A4 size freezer bags from supermarket (about $2)
Sandwich= 1 A4 page, freezer bag, another A4 page
Lay A4 page then freezer bag, transfer stamps to freezer bag (FACE UP) , lay second A4 page on top
Place sandwich in BOOK
Repeat as many times as your soaked stamps (I usually can get 40 stamps to an A4
Leave in book for 4 days, (lay weight on top, I use a new house brick) open book, take out sandwich, the stamps will slide off the freezer bag, flat as a pancake and just beautiful.
DO NOT SOAK SELF ADHESIVES. These need other methods
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JeffS
Member
Posts: 2,607
What I collect: Oranges Philately, US Slogan Cancels, Cape of Good Hope Triangulars, and Texas poster stamps and cinderellas
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Post by JeffS on Oct 25, 2023 2:57:54 GMT
So Ive been watching lots of videos and reading a lot of forum pages. I have quite a few vintage stamps that i found clumped together in envelopes from a garage sale that had weight on top of them for many years, they are stuck pretty good. The word "vintage" has no meaning in philately. Resale shops yes, but not philately.  The more specific a poster's questions are, the more relevant the answers will be. jeffs |
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Post by 57buick on Oct 25, 2023 3:02:01 GMT
PERSONAL JOURNEY ONLY (every collector has their own method) Take from this what you will 1. The stamps are in a block, there is no rescue, forget gum, these need to be soaked 2. Inspect for any BADDIES material that will leak ink, (stamps on coloured envelopes etc) 3. ONLY use cold water, no washing liquid, nothing else 4. let soak for 10 mins, or wait till some stamps separate 5. Make sure gum is off each stamp, and lay wet on a CLEAN TEA TOWEL (LIGHTLY tap off excess water 5. Make a "SOAKING SANDWICH" So #5 above: that's part of my question, how do I remove gum off the front that makes it all shiny looking? would I lightly rub the glue off in water? So far I've only been using the sweat box method. Maybe I need to try just putting the whole clump of stamps in water. |
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Post by 57buick on Oct 25, 2023 3:04:29 GMT
So Ive been watching lots of videos and reading a lot of forum pages. I have quite a few vintage stamps that i found clumped together in envelopes from a garage sale that had weight on top of them for many years, they are stuck pretty good. The word "vintage" has no meaning in philately. Resale shops yes, but not philately. The more specific a poster's questions are, the more relevant the answers will be. jeffs I get your point, I was implying just that they were not newer style stamps but were late 1800's to early 1900's but I understand your point so i will find better wording in the future, thanks |
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rod222
Member
Posts: 9,911
What I collect: Worldwide Stamps, Ephemera and Catalogues
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Post by rod222 on Oct 25, 2023 3:33:49 GMT
Quote:
So #5 above: that's part of my question, how do I remove gum off the front that makes it all shiny looking?
would I lightly rub the glue off in water? So far I've only been using the sweat box method.
Maybe I need to try just putting the whole clump of stamps in water.
That would be my journey.
The thing is, IF there is any gum left on a stamp, after soaking, it will not adhere to the freezer bag
they just slip off.
That said, as you pick a stamp out of clean soak water, touch can identify stamps with excess gum
(Example Malay States, these gum with huge globs of yellow Gum Arabic)
I use an artist brush to remove this gunk.
Expereince wiil take you down the path if followed above, some stamps (Romanian CTO) come with gum
that is impossible to remove, you just end up ditching them.
Only soak those you wish to mount, (albeit with your clumped block) just put in a bowl of clean cold water, and wait
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Beryllium Guy
Moderator 
Posts: 5,656
What I collect: Worldwide Stamps 1840-1930
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Post by Beryllium Guy on Oct 25, 2023 3:53:25 GMT
57buickThanks for your posts and for asking questions about soaking stamps. There is already quite a bit of information about soaking stamps here on TSF. If you look in the Stamp Collecting Fundamentals board, where you started this thread, you will see many threads about soaking. Our member Stan ( stainlessb) has been doing lots of research in the area, including an article in the most recent issue of the TSF Newsletter. I note the process from rod222, and as he states, he has had good results with it, but that others may have different processes. I totally agree with that, especially since my process is different from his, but also works. In the end, I think you will need to do some experimenting of your own and decide what works best for you. But in the case of stamps (presumably mint, although you did not specifically state that) solidly stuck together from improper storage conditions over many years, I would agree with Rod's assertion that you should forget about the sweat box and just soak them. The sweat box is useful for stamps that cannot take soaking, such as those with fugitive inks, or ones that have a chance of having their collectible value better preserved by a more delicate separation process. If you just soak them and remove all the gum, you shouldn't have a problem with residual gum on the fronts of the stamps, and any tendencies for curling will be minimized. I have never tried Rod's sandwich technique, but a simpler way that has never failed me is to remove the excess water from the stamp coming out of the bath by blotting between paper towels. Then put the damp stamp face down on blotter paper (a kind of soft cardboard) and cover the backs with a piece waxed paper. If there is any residual gum on the back, the stamp should still release without damage from the waxed paper after drying and press-flattening. You should only use paper towels for hand-blotting the excess water and never for press-flattening, as the embossing, common in most household paper towels these days, will be transferred into the stamps when weights are applied. Terri ( philatelia) has posted about this before with illustrations showing the difference in the final results. Hope this helps, and good luck with the soaking! Surprising to me, I have come to enjoy the whole process. 
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vikingeck
Member
Posts: 3,268
What I collect: Samoa, Tobacco theme, Mail in Wartime, anything odd and unusual!
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Post by vikingeck on Oct 25, 2023 9:28:00 GMT
As was pointed out earlier the word “vintage” can cover a lot of stuff and in the Antiques business implies anything from very recent out of current production to something within the lifetime of the seller….very vague. I had often been shown “a very old stamp “ to see something that is younger than my self (80+)
Scott uses the word “classic” for pre 1940 though in my eyes I mentally think pre 1914 is the classic period , and up to WWII I refer to as “pre -war” and anything after is “modern” as it is within my collecting lifetime .
I have just taken a batch of mint Maldive Islands from 1950s which were affected by staining and damp and soaked them , with a drop or two washing up liquid, to release hinges and some staining. Of course they are no longer “mint”. I have to call them Unused without gum…..but they now look refreshed , clean and pretty good on an album page , if you forget the absence of gum.
I think no gum at all is nicer than glossy gum marks that have transferred to the front. As neither condition can be described as “mint” it might as well be “unused”.
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FDI
Member
Member of RPSC & BNAPS
Posts: 349
What I collect: Modern Canada (misperf, varieties, tagging errors), Canadian Cinderellas, EXUP & CAPEX & Dead Countries
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Post by FDI on Oct 25, 2023 15:28:30 GMT
For my part, any drying is done with the "Desert Magic II Drying Book". This method has never failed me. Not cheap but a few years ago during an event in Montreal I was lucky enough to purchase a copy for $20 CAD.   |
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Post by nick2302 on Oct 25, 2023 15:48:47 GMT
That picture of the drying book are memories from the good old days. Now that the stick'em used by the UDSA, there is no more soaking. Now it is STAMP LIFT all the way. Even then soaking can be a pain. You can still have the problem of the stamp sticking to the paper towel as they dry. When I was a young boy (about a hundred tears ago) and my dad worked for an international division of a company I first learned about soaking. As the years progressed and countries had to worry about reuse of soaked off stamps that simple joy died on the vine.
The USA stamps are, IMO, the hardest stamps to lift off an envelope. The glue used by the USPO really is a stick'em beyond any other country I have had the opportunity to soak. So unless I keep some freshly purchased stamps I don't collect USA any longer. The glue is one reason the format is another. Now the stamps are on sheets that "enhance" the subject the stamp is about. I am too cheap to collect whole sheets of USA mint stamps. That puts in a quandary about which sheet corner to keep that used to be considered the corner block. But at $0.66 a stamp I for one do not want to have to have to save a large number.
Modern USA stamps are harder than ever to collect. Mint is very expensive and used to heck in a handbag to soak off the envelope.
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stainlessb
Member
qaStaHvIS yIn 'ej chep
Posts: 4,643
What I collect: currently focused on most of western Europe, much of which is spent on France, Belgium, Germany and Great Britain Queen Victoria
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Post by stainlessb on Oct 25, 2023 21:03:37 GMT
As someone who tried numerous 'work-arounds" instead of buying a drying book, get one (or two). It will become a very useful and valuable 'tool" for your collecting activities, and in the long run, much less trouble than parchment, wax paper, paper towels, etc.
The STAMP LIFT does indeed work, but I find it to be a slow method, and I only use with stamps I am trying to either not cause fading/bleeding of inks, or trying minimize disturbing the original gum.
Water temp.... just like when you try to dissolve sugar (or some other dry powder, it dissolves easier in warmer/hotter water. However, stamps on colored paper (holiday greeting card envelopes), touchy inks, and marker cancellations by 'mad at the world" postal clerks are more prone to unwanted 'side effects'.
Clear detergents are safe for 'most' stamps
10 minutes is adequate for hinges, and most papers, but there are some 'postcard' material that takes much longer to get to release. However, if like me, I tend to soak larger batches and it can take up to 30+ minutes of 'soaking' time before I get all the stamps out and onto a blotter (I use hop sack, cotton sack cloth, barmaids towel.... they are very absorbent and will dry out fairly quickly)
Some have voiced concerns over using chlorinated (tap) water, however at the low levels typically used in most domestic water systems, I have not seen any ill-effects (even after extended soaking times)
Use of Hydrogen peroxide (3% is off the shelf in the US) is (again) safe for most stamps, and if you leave stamps in peroxide long enough it is possible to 'bleach out/fade the color"... but in my experience, we are talking days.... as in, oops, I forgot about that.....
Enzymes have been suggested for difficult gums (Austria comes immediately to mind). I have tried several of the "pancreatic" enzymes with little success.... but there are many many enzymes.... so still looking
Orange oil extracts have been successfully used to remove the more modern 'self-adhesives"
as with everything, there are always exceptions. If possible, experiment with a 'filler/cull' if in doubt.
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