soaking / removing stamps from covers

The same problem extends to other countries as well. Here in the UK, many Machin definitives are now self adhesive and most of these it would seem, are from booklets. Although I don't collect GB, I have experimented with soaking these using a very similar product to the 'Pure Citrus' you mention. The problem that I have faced is that the stamps usually have to undergo another soaking to try to remove the stickiness that's left. The danger is that these chemicals can wrinkle the paper and/or dilute the ink pigments (it's happened to me). I have read that others use talcum powder to eliminate the sticky residue. I'm not sure this is a sensible thing to do, because not enough time has yet passed to properly measure and monitor the effects of adding chalk like powder to the back of what is a relatively new stamp adhesive innovation.

We just have to look at the effects of stamp storage mounts that used certain plasticisers, which are now, some 30 to 50 years later, showing their destructive properties.

This subject has been discussed at length on other boards, where many different opinions on what to use probably leaves most folk confused. Some collectors make no attempt to soak these off but instead closely cut the stamps from the envelope/piece and just place them in their albums. I personally think this is quite acceptable and is the least destructive.

In some respects, leaving these on cover may be beneficial (the future of postal history collecting), but this is not everybody's bag and does present additional storage and display problems.

I actually have quite a bit of fun trying to get modern self-adhesives off of paper.   I simply prefer my stamps to be clean & flat and off paper so I've worked a bit at figuring out what techniques are needed to get the stamps off.  I had some issues with citrus chemicals that would also fade the reds on some stamps so it wasn't long before I stopped doing things that way.  I most commonly use paint thinner now - it's low in flammability (so low that the brand I buy doesn't even have a flammable warning on the front, just a poison warning so you don't drink it).  Some self-adhesive stamps wash off without anything other than water (many older US stamps, almost every Canadian stamp, virtually all Dutch & German stamps that I've tried so far).  Some never come off in water (old French Marianne definitives, Great Britain Machins, etc.).  And not everything comes off with paint thinner - there's one issue of the US flag over porch stamp that doesn't come off, I have some older Tonga stamps that won't come off, one so far from Norfolk Island, etc..  Some come off but need quite a bit of fingernail scraping to get the gum remnants off - Brazil stamps are really bad, it's like a solid wax underneath the gum.

There's quite a bit of related chatter here on TSF at an older thread on soaking.  (Lots of it just has to do with plain old water-activated soaking, though.)

Ryan

I've gotten lazy in my old age and I don't even enjoy soaking regular lick-and-stick stamps any more. I've also found that those mailing envelopes to me (stamp dealers, usually) are increasingly lazy about placing stamps in straight lines as many have stamps every which way. Looks like they were affixed in the middle of a tornado! 

My current "policy" is that if the cover looks nice (stamps straight and something interesting), I just leave then alone. Modern postal history.... "Regular" stamps are cut and put into plastic bins for the day when I can muster the desire to soak them. ANYTHING self-adhesive that I don't want to keep on cover receives the cut-square approach; I don't need the frustration of trying to soak them if they are going to be difficult. Cut squares were good enough for postal stationary for a long time so I see no problem with that.

The first batch of Icelandic kiloware I ever found (in the pre-internet days, a local stamp shop had a freezer bag full - found a bag of Papua New Guinea too that same day!) had quite a few parcel card cutouts that had the stamps on them the same way.  At least those were back in the days of water-activated gum so they soaked off fine.  Canadian self-adhesives all soak off fine but the gum is left behind on the piece, which means all of those stacked stamps will leave their gum behind on the stamp underneath.  What a mess!

My collection still has a bunch of those Icelandic stamps with a small section of CDS cancels on them.

Ryan

I must admit the majority of stamps I've soaked/steamed off are UK stamps that I've received on letters that have not been cancelled by the Post Office.

This happens 8 times out of 10! The postal service is quite expensive in the UK so once they're dry I glue them on to envelopes and use them again 

Hope the Uk postal police aren't reading this but I think if they didn't want people to do it they'd get their act together and CANCELL THE STAMPS 

I must say that soaking stamps can be a very relaxing job, provided there are no self adhesives in the batch that do not come off normally (like some of the modern UK, most of the modern USA and some of the latest Australia). I have seen many references to Pure Citrus, but I have no idea what it is and if it is available in the Netherlands. Probably not, but what would be more or less the same, and produce the same results?

OK, that's funny. I have a bottle of that stuff on the shelf, because of the renovation of our new home. I hope there is something left so I can try it out.
Is there a procedure on how to use it?

I don't fancy many new stamps, so I just leave them on the paper and hinge them to my album pages. They're a nuisance, so I give them a minimal amount of attention.

Can any one advise where or if Goo Gone and Pure Citrus can be purchased in Canada?


I  soak older stamps the traditional way but have had mixed results with self adhesive.  Will try out some of the hints posted here.

Was it worth it ? Well, yes maybe for 4 stamps. But if someone gave you 400 or 4,000 ? No, definitely not. It may appear to be a rather silly question coming from someone who no longer collects Postage stamps but I have to ask.......is it really worth it ? (You can answer on a postcard but with water-activated stamps only !!)

Thanks all for the info about Goo Gone and ZEP.  I will try to find these products and see what success I have.

I have not been able to find zep in tha Laval area (Montreal, Canada).

What else would work for those feisty US stamps

Soaking self adhesives ...

Regarding British stamps my 2021 Stanley Gibbons catalogue advises that "because the" recent "self-adhesive stamps do not include a water-soluable layer of gum we recommend that used stamps are retained on their backing paper and trimmed with a uniform border of 1-2 mm around the sides taking care not to cut into the perforations".
I agree, although I leave a border that includes all of the postmark.