Drying Books and Alternatives

oregon1234 I think this is a common problem. I have not had the same books as you, but some similar from Lighthouse. But I don't think the problem is the books. If the stamp glue to a page, it has glue on it! If you take the stamp between your thumb and long finger in the water and gently 'massage' the stamp, te remaining glue should come off.
But there are (after my experience) some stamps that won't let go of their glue. Some old Austrian stamps I find hard to deal with. What I do then is to clean them as much as I can, then let them air dry (on top of a lamp (not to hot)). Yes they get bulky but that is better than having them in the drying book 😂
If you have already glued them in the drying book there is a easy fix. If you have a small pipette of some kind, just wet the area around the stamp and from the back side of the paper to. Wait half minute and then gently lift it of with your tweezer (tong). You might have to 're-wet' the paper

I have been thinking of show this for a while, so now I take the opportunity to take some pictures to show what I mean. 

You need a stuck stamp



Then you need a 'pipette' of some kind


Wet the area around the stamp


If you are lucky the stamp start to lift ore let go of the book page


Lift the stamp gently off the page, air dry it.

I've had the same Desert Magic II drying book for 20 years and never had a problem. I always leave mine under heavy books for two days and then without for a day or so. Even self-adhesives come off easily and any excess glue can just be picked off.

Seems to work for me.

Torbjørn, take a look at my post on this TSF thread on old Austrian stamps - I was snooping through some journals once and I found what might be the solution for these old Austrian stamps.  I have since been to a vitamin store and have bought some pancreatin, but I haven't yet gathered together enough of the old Austrian stamps to try soaking them - I'm saving them in a pile and someday soon I hope to give it a try.

And for oregon1234 (hello Kristy in central Oregon, I used to have occasion to drive through Bend & Redmond quite often and when I was a kid living in Portland, my Dad would go racing in Madras all the time so I was there a lot, plus he had a partner in Prineville so I was there a lot too), I agree with what Torbjørn said about trying to use your thumb & fingers while soaking to help get rid of gum that's hanging around - that's what I do.  Give them the old "give me money" sign!  But to do it properly, you'll only be moving the thumb over the gummed part - the forefinger needs to stay connected to the printed side, you don't want to have it sliding around on that side of the stamp.



Some types of gum dissolve completely and there are no remnants left so no extra cleaning is needed (like old US stamps from the 1940s, for example).  Some types of gum leave lots of gooey stuff behind and I need to spend a lot of time using my thumb to wash off that extra gum.  Older British stamps are like that, they often leave a real slimey goo behind, and I'm sure your older Hong Kong stamps will often be like that since they were printed in the same place.

You have to be careful when using your thumb to help remove that extra gum.  Some papers are very tough and can take lots of abuse, and some are quite weak once they get wet and when you're trying to remove the gum you soon end up balling up the paper fibres and putting a thin spot on your stamp!  US stamps from the 1970s or 1980s are examples of this - the engraved stamps are on a real tough paper and can take some rough handling, but the non-engraved stamps are often on a real fragile paper and it's easy to damage them.

Kim's hint (hello khj ) about using a second container of clean water after soaking the stamp in your first container is also valuable.  I do my soaking in the kitchen sinks and put water in both of them, one sink for soaking the stamp off the envelope cutout and the other sink for rinsing it clean.

Ryan

Do we have desert magic drying books in Canada - we do not have any desert 

You mean Okanagan Valley, BC - not a real desert 

Perhaps, dear Rene, but still an interesting and unique ecosystem worth protecting. Yeah, Terri is a treehugger! Love to learn about interesting regions like this. There are so many wonderful diverse places on this amazing planet.

I vote yea on desert magic books!! Big thumbs up! 

How Terri soaks stamps...

First - I separate stamps by how they soak. Colored paper definitely gets soaked separately as do self adhesives. I use hotter water on the self adhesives that are soakable. My goal is to have them in and out of the water as quickly as possible to prevent fading, micro fractures and other damage. Wet paper is very delicate!

I stand at the sink and do my soaking. I have two fairly large tubs of water. And one smaller bowl. Those little basins from hospital stays are perfect, or upturned plastic bins work, too. I don’t want too many stamps in any batch so that they aren’t crowded and I can get them out of the water quickly.  To make the process more ergonomic and easier on my creaky joints, I elevate the tubs with an empty tub beneath and I stand on padded mats. Definitely add some awesome music during the process!

The first bath is fairly warm and has a small shot of orange degunker soap added. The second large tub is cool, clean water, and a small third on the side also has cool water.

Most water activated gums release quickly - five minutes is usually long enough. I take those out one at a time and I lightly rub the back of each stamp before I toss it in the rinse. If it is still sticky or gummy or not released from backing yet, I toss it in the third small bowl so I’m not wasting my time grabbing the same stubborn stamps over and over.

Now I give the stamps in the stubborn bowl try number two.

Next step is remove from the rinse water and arrange on the desert magic drying pages. I can’t imagine soaking without those drying books - they really are awesome and incredibly inexpensive.

Now I blot the excess water off the desert magic page using clean old absorbent dish towels or hand hand towel. I do NOT use fabric softeners on my towels as I am very allergic and I don’t want to transfer any chemicals onto the papers.

Then the stamps are pressed to dry - a day or less is often sufficient. I stack the drying books alternating so the bindings don’t get in the way and then put some heavy books on top.

I find that when I go to remove the stamps if I flex the page, they all pop loose like a dream - no prying them off needed. Once in a while I will have accidentally left too much goo on the back and they let me know by clinging a bit too strongly to the drying page. Those go back in the resoak pile. 

Because I live in the tropics, I’m very careful about making sure the drying books are themselves well dried before putting them away. Sometimes I put them in the sun for an hour or so to prevent mold.

I leave unsoakable stamps on the paper. I have seen too many stamps destroyed by all the various desperate measures folks take to remove them. Between the chemicals and the powders, I have yet to see one single stamp removed using any of these methods that looks as good as the original stamp left on paper. They all are thinned, faded, gooey with powder, crackled with microfractures and in general look crappy. And this doesn’t even begin to consider how bad it is to expose yourself to a bunch of chemicals, and no one knows what those powders and chemicals are going to do to the stamps long term. I have pretty much stopped accepting unsoakable issues in trades because they are almost all damaged and I end up returning them.

My main philosophy regarding ANY handling of my stamps is this: These little bits of cellulose are very delicate and the long term effects of any chemical or process they are exposed to are potentially big unknowns. I feel that I am a caretaker of the Philatelic material that I own and I try to not damage or negatively alter any in my possession.

I never soak stamps, just try to give them away if on paper... Impressed with the patience of those who do it!

Residual glue is the problem with all of these methods.  Most stamp glue will dissolve away as a problem on whatever you dry.  But certain stamps can merely have their glue moisten into varying shades of goo.  I have found most East European bulk cancel glue to be really problematic, its sticks to everything and seems to be resilient in surviving multiple soaks.  I had the desert books years ago but found them no more effective than newspaper (getting to be a rarity).  The books eventually warped from moisten and were prone to have problem gums stick regardless of prep.  Of course the finally decision for me was that I was mass soaking on paper lots and the few books I had could not accommodate the volumes.

I like my stamps as clean as they can be... given the fact that many are well over 100 years old

to paraphrase "High Sierra".... (work with me on this one)  "...  we don't don't need no stinking  (le-phew) stamps..."   

but I digress

I have two Desert magic drying books that are about 20 years old now. You can clean the glue residue form the pages with Goo Gone. I also use paper towels, but I use plates of glass in between. I just took a bunch of old 8x10 frames and took the glass out. Soak and rinse stamps, place on paper towel, fill towel with stamps, place plate of glass on top. After several layers, or sometimes 10-15 layers, place a really heavy book on top until tomorrow. Stamps are dry and flat. If any stick to the paper towel, re-soak them and try again.

As for me soaking stamps, not a chance, but my wife likes to do it for me. I am a lucky man!

Have a great day.

Mike.