Soaking stamps off colored paper
ad...@agt.net
Can anyone suggest a way to soak stamps off colored paper without
discoloring the stamp? I've tried preparing a bath of cold salt water,
but the color still comes off. Usually I run hot water directly onto the
stamp and paper, and it works, but this is a miniature sheet of stamps
that comes apart from the weight. The sheet is on fluorescent green
paper, and the color is very obvious on the stamp.
David Ross
I soak items of this type one at a time. That way, I don't damage other
items.
I trim the cover as close as possible to the stamps to minimize the
amount of colored paper. I soak in slightly warm water. Usually, I
would add a trace of soap as a wetting agent. In this case, I omit the
soap. I float the cut cover stamp-side-down. As soon as the envelope
paper appears wet, I try to lift it from the water; I repeat this until
I can lift it without the stamp.
As soon as the stamp and envelope are separated, I place the stamp face
down on a paper towel. I lightly dab the back of the stamp with a
cotton swab soaked with a mixture of water and bleach to remove any
trace of the dye from the envelope. As soon as the dye is removed, I
soak the stamp again in fresh, clean water to remove the bleach. The
stamp is then ready to dry.
No, this is not perfect. A trace of dye might still remain. The paper
or color of the stamp might be damaged. On the other hand, many
collectors won't even bother with colored envelopes.
Ada M. Prill
Sorry to be responding to a response, but my provider didn't post the
original question. All your suggestions are excellent, but I have one more
to add. If there's a stamp that you really want and it's badly enough
stained by the dye that you're otherwise going to have to discard it, try
this: soak it in a little milk in a dish in the refrigerator. Leave it for
a few hours to a couple of days, and change the milk if it gets too
colored before the job is complete. This usually works, but I would
imagine that some stamps might be damaged by the process, so save it for a
last resort.
Ada
Ada M. Prill
After posting this yesterday, I realized that I had left out an important
step--once the dye has passed into the milk and the stamp looks clean, it
is ESSENTIAL to soak the stamp in plain water to remove every trace of
milk from the paper!
Ada
On Tue, 11 Feb 1997, Ada M. Prill wrote:
> I have one more suggestion to add. If there's a stamp that you really
Too@twobirds
On 10 Feb 1997 18:45:38 GMT, ad...@agt.net wrote:
>Can anyone suggest a way to soak stamps off colored paper without
>discoloring the stamp? I've tried preparing a bath of cold salt water,
>but the color still comes off. Usually I run hot water directly onto the
>stamp and paper, and it works, but this is a miniature sheet of stamps
>that comes apart from the weight. The sheet is on fluorescent green
>paper, and the color is very obvious on the stamp.
Is it possible that the moisture required to stick the stamp on in the
first place has caused some of the discolouration? After being
similarly disappointed as you, we came to this reluctant conclusion.
If this is the case, what ever we do, it will be too late, as the
colour will have had time to set well into the paper. Anyone any
other ideas? We are trying stronger methods next - after all, there
is nothing to lose.
JOAN BIRD
Jeffrey L. Shlosberg
In addition to all the other good suggestions:
Have you tried something like the "stamplifter." I got mine many years
ago and I don't know if they are still available. Essentially, it is a
plastic box with a felt-like material in the top and bottom. You wet the
felt and then place the stamps on paper in the cavity in the middle of
the box. After several hours, the stamps and paper become damp but not
soaked and the glue lets go.
You could probably get the same result by putting a wet rag in a
tupperware container and putting the stamps on some wax paper on top of
the rag. Seal the tupperware (no need to burp it) and away you go.
> ad...@agt.net wrote:
> >
> > Can anyone suggest a way to soak stamps off colored paper without
> > discoloring the stamp? I've tried preparing a bath of cold salt water,
> > but the color still comes off. Usually I run hot water directly onto the
> > stamp and paper, and it works, but this is a miniature sheet of stamps
> > that comes apart from the weight. The sheet is on fluorescent green
> > paper, and the color is very obvious on the stamp.
--
----------------------------------------------------------------
Jeffrey L. Shlosberg
900 E. 79th Street, Suite 301,
Bloomington, MN 55420
----------------------------------------------------------------