vi
**Member** 
Posts: 24
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Post by vi on May 30, 2024 15:11:57 GMT
I have 3 stamps that have been so brittle as to break (crumble?) Although thankfully into large enough pieces I was able to salvage and plan on putting back together when I become proficient at parchment repair techniques (as suggested in another post about repairs).
However, my question is if there is a best practice to bring brittle stamps back to a state where even careful handling wont break them.
If it helps, these stamps were all early 1900 Russian and had been treated with hydrogen peroxide (around 10 min), dried in a container atop (but not touching) baking soda to fully dry them out, and then ironed flat again on low heat as they were in a bag with mold. I know I might have boxed them in doing that, but I wasn't willing to risk the rest of my collection on the likely chance they had spores. Other stamps are a little stiffer than before, but not nearly as brittle.
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khj
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Posts: 1,515 
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Post by khj on May 30, 2024 16:30:02 GMT
It's very rare for a stamp to become brittle. There are a very few exceptions that's I've run into, which I can't think of a specific one off the top of my head -- but often related to smooth shiny solid coatings that give the stamp a porcelain type appearance. An example of the solid coatings is the enameled King Carlos issues of Portugal during the 1880's and 1890's.
Did they become brittle after ironing? Excessive heat will cause paper to become brittle.
Many of the early 1900 Russia stamps are low catalog value. Unless they have sentimental value, it is probably much easier to simply replace the stamps through purchases. If they have sentimental value, isolate the stamps and store them sealed away from your main collection. There are ammonia-based solutions that can be used to kill mold/mildew on stamps, but it is not necessarily safe for all stamps, so I'm hesitant to give you details on that. If you are really interested in recovering your moldy stamps for sentimental reasons, there is a book on this (because there are many who frown upon this specific book, I'm not going to post the title) -- a little basic chemistry knowledge is useful to understand the book, as it involves some "cooking".
As far as mold stains, there is a commercially available (liquid) solution in a bottle (actually, 2 different bottles that need to be used successively, if I remember correctly). It's from one of the major European manufacturers (name eludes me, sorry). I've never used it, but heard it works quite well. I do remember it is very very pricy, and heard the first bottle smells -- likely has some ammonia in it(?).
Remember, all "restoration" methods will damage or even remove the original stamp gum.
Anyway, those are just my opinions. Others may have a different take.
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vi
**Member**
Posts: 24
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Post by vi on May 30, 2024 17:06:04 GMT
Thanks for all that info.
Yes, it was after ironing that they became brittle. I'll keep that in mind next time, and find another way to flatten them out if I ever decide to take on a challenge like that again.
I was naieve and ordered "water damaged" stamps thinking they would be stuck together and soaking them would loosen them again. I ended up throwing a majority of them away, but have been trying to salvage some of the older ones that were on the edges without visable spots. No sentimental or catalogue value, I'm sure. I'm just a bit more reserved about throwing 110 year old things if I can help it... for historical preservation, if that makes sense?
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stainlessb
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qaStaHvIS yIn 'ej chep
Posts: 4,799
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 May 30, 2024 17:35:59 GMT
'most' stamps will flatten out in a drying book or (if not soaked) just placing something with weight atop (and it often doesn't take that much weight)
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vi
**Member**
Posts: 24
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Post by vi on May 30, 2024 18:40:22 GMT
Thank you. I'll look into one of those.
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rod222
Member
Posts: 10,681
What I collect: Worldwide Stamps, Ephemera and Catalogues
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Post by rod222 on May 31, 2024 3:09:01 GMT
vi Hi vi, (Generally) what we are dealing with here, is just paper, and gum. Now each has a different property, it moves and expands at different rates, due to humidity and moisture Over time this will break down the paper. I have had crumbling stamp paper, but generally on high humidity countries (The Malay States comes to mind) The gum was thick and brown. Never experienced it with Russian stamps however. Thanks to my chemistry teacher, it sticks in my mind, the experiment with the "Compound bi metal bar" A strip of 2 metals in a bar is heated over a flame one expands more easily than the other, it causes the bar to bend Same happen with a postage stamp....it curls! Watch the experiment here linkCheers
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vi
**Member**
Posts: 24
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Post by vi on Jun 7, 2024 0:00:11 GMT
Thanks! I do think it was the ironing that did it in. I wasn't able to save them, either, so it ended up being a learning experience- no more heat. even on the lower settings, the iron is too harsh for the paper. When I did it, I used the same process with some German ones from the Eagle and Numeral series of the early 1900s, and those are stiff, but fared better. I suppose it had to do with the quality and thickness of the paper used.
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