Can anyone tell me why the color on these stamps washed out?

Does anyone have a list of these problematic ones?  I'm a "boil them in the microwave" kind of get-those-self-adhesives-off-the-paper guy, and it didn't take long to figure out that yep, some stamps don't like that. I hate losing stamps to my own impatience and stupidity.

Also, I'm always looking for new ways to try to get those dang Brits with the oblong knockouts off paper. Does anyone have a method that won't destroy half of them?

Thanks for your comments, Mr. H .  It would be great if you would create a list of all stamps that you find are susceptible to color fading from over-soaking and then post it here.

As a classic era collector, I have encountered water-soluble, fugitive inks that will either fade or disappear altogether when soaked in water.  I am planning to start a thread on TSF that can be used as a resource, which can function as a guide to any stamps that can be damaged by soaking in water.  I would be very happy to include your findings in this area, so please don't hesitate to post information here as you discover it.

Thank you! 

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Edit: Terri (philatelia ), if you already know which ones these are likely to fall into this category from your experience, please let me know a range of catalogue numbers.  Thanks!
Of course, any members are welcome to contribute information from their experience, but I'm just not sure who all to ask!

Many thanks, Mr. H, this looks great.  Contributions like this will push me finally to start the thread on Fugitive Inks that I have been contemplating for eons.

Please keep adding to the list as you find more examples.  I will return to this thread periodically for updates.  Thank you very much for getting this going! 

"Pure" water, by itself, doesn't really cause a stamp to fade, unless the stamp has been printed in aniline (or some other water-soluble) ink. It's the "bleaching" agents that might be in the water, such as Cl- ions. Most tap water in big cities contain higher levels than "typical" tap water, and the most common residential/consumer water purification/softening units aren't designed to remove Cl- or may even increase it (as was the case when I used to use a salt-regenerated water softener).

Unless you use deionized water, you just simply have to be careful about soaking too long and avoiding warm water. If you must use warm water or soak for a really long time and are running into the fading problem using your house/local water, there's a quick solution that will remove most Cl- type bleaching agents: boil the water briefly, that will push out most of the chlorine into the air. After it cools, use that for long-term or warm-water soaking. Of course, you'll probably introduce higher metals into the water, but that isn't going to cause the stamps any problems.

Philatelic solutions sold to remove used water-activated-gum stamps from paper (such as "Stamp Lift Fluid") work very quickly. While I rarely use those solutions, I've never had problems with them damaging the printing on the stamp. I don't soak modern stamps, but from what I've read/heard, products such as "Pure Citrus", "Bestine" (be very careful with this) have worked well on many modern self-adhesive stamps; but again, watch out for affects on cancels and be aware of possible problems with some engraved stamps/inks.

Yes, distilled water is basically water that has been evaporated and then condensed again, so it will have significantly less bleaching ions and insolubles than tap water. That's certainly an option if you have to use warm water to soak stamps -- save you the trouble of boiling the water yourself.

Of course, I don't advise directly drinking distilled water directly if it's been stored for more than a few weeks. The reduced ion content also means bacteria have one less enemy to face. It's not a problem with coffee machines because you are "electrically boiling" the water again.