Mounts- to keep or toss?

The Crystal mounts will tone your stamps badly. I would replace them with showguard mounts and dispose of any unused ones.

Thank you Smauggle

That was exactly the type of response I was hoping for. Someone else stated and I just wanted some consensus before tossing!

Hi Stan

See my thread: Using Stamp Mounts

When I was breaking down collections for my friend's store, Crystal Mounts, when used, were yellow and in some cases damaged the stamp.  Best way to get a stamp out of the mount is to cut the top edge carefully with an Exacto knife.  I agree, dump them.

Even worse than Crystal Mounts was another mount, cannot remember the name, they were black and sealed on 3 sides.  They were all pre-cut.  One placed the stamp in the mount and sealed the top and then placed them on the page (self sticking).  One clue that a stamp was in one of these mounts is fuzzy black fibers on the back of the stamp.  If you have any of those, toss them as well,

P.S. I just remembered.  They were called PM Mounts.

Jerry B

I have all Showguard (black background)  and with the lot of them I have, I'm somewhat committed for the foreseeable future.  Thanks all for your comments!

I hate (do not like) this type of Mount and I have used them from my late father's lot - do not buy them - they make removing and placing a stamp a big "affair" and at times injuries occur - So they are all in the garbage - René

I use use a q-tip (cotton swabs) to apply moisture to mounts. For split backs, I touch the q-tip a damp sponge and apply a dab to the top center of the mount. My goal is to use the least amount of moisture needed to adhere to page.

I do not use split backs much now but actually take split back and split them to so it is open at top and sides. It is much easier. I have to use a 55mm split back to get a 25 to 26mm mount.  I do not use or like hinges.

I find a little touch of a glue stick on the back of the mounts works fine.

Yes, when using the guillotine, you do have to have something press down on the mount. Otherwise, the light-weight mount material will lift/shift as you cut, and the cut won't be straight.

I don't do this often, as I prefer using stockbooks and Vario-style stockpages. For space reasons, I'm converting to album pages once I have a decent amount for a country. If I have to use a print album for mint or classic era stamps that need to be in mounts, I usually will acquire a used hingeless album. The labor/time involved in cutting/affixing/inserting hundreds to thousands of mounts/stamps for a given country is just too much for me. I use the recycled mounts to add additional stamp varieties, or to fill in missing areas in used albums I have acquired that already had most mounts already affixed.

I admire those of you who have spent the time, effort, and money to individually mount your stamps. I've seen the results, and very impressive. For me, I just don't have what it takes. I can only spend my time/money on sorting/IDing/inserting stamps. New mounts are just too expensive and time-consuming for me. So my WW collection presentation pales in comparison to almost everyone's. I guess that's why I really enjoy looking at album pages from other collectors!

khj
Good discussion - We all work differently - For example, my Classic Canada/Ivory Coast/Finland/USA/Czechosl/Belgium/Yugoslavia/FRANCE/....are in special (either mine/custom or Steiner) albums and all stamps mounted in black....while I keep some others in Lighthouse Binders......finally on Vario pages for others and Commercial Albums like Scott International and Junior have both hinged and mounted stamps - some will be switched to special Albums. I am doing Denmark now on Steiner pages/Album and that works well for me....faster than a custom album ad stamps are switched from an old Scott Junior (-1940). I have other special albums (ex: Sir Rowland Hil Souvenir Sheet collection). WW11 stamps (1,360 stamps) are in a Lighthouse binder with Bermuda 238- and Costa Rica,Gronland, and India S/S.
This is only part of it to give you an example and affirm that not all my stamps are "mounted" and never will be.
P.S. I also have 4 Lindner Falzlos Albums for my early Canada stamps as started by my late dad - never bought 1 myself ($$$$$$$$) - prefer the Custom album I started and who follows Scott or/Unitrade Canada Specialized Cat with all of its complexities.


Keep this going !  René

Most of my used stamps are hinged in a pre-printed album and that's where they will stay.
I'm working on a project that I discussed in another thread.  I'm creating an album of US presidents.  For this album I'm making my own pages and I wanted to mount the stamps.  Unfortunately, there was a typo on my first page so I have to redo it.