Soaking The Right Way?

Hi everyone,

Here am I again to ask something .
I'm soaking stamps for years now, but I doubt if I do it the right way.

My soaking steps are as followed:

1) I put my stamps in "room" temperature water.
2) I play around with the stamps so that they are fully submerged.
3) I peel them off the paper.
4) I put them face down to dry.

Now my question is at step 3.
What is better, let them go en set a timer on 10 minutes, or help them off the paper?
So am I soaking the right way?

I hope you'll get my point.
If not, than I'd like to hear that.

I hope to hear from someone soon.
Kind Regards,

Rik

rikdegraaff,

It is generally better to soak without peeling. Unhappily, this doesn't always work, so assistance is required.

Jack Kelley

Rik, you state above that you doubt if you do it the right way. Can you tell us why you feel that way? If you have trouble explaining, please use Dutch. I was born and raised there and still speak and read it!

Peter

What do you do Rik with the self adhesives?

sdtom,

Pure Citrus, Pure Citrus, Pure Citrus! Works every time,

Jack Kelley

Hi rikdegraaff. Here are my soaking steps.

1.) trim close and remove any stamps on colored paper which may bleed and stain
2.) put stamps (up to around 100) in container and add warm/hot water
3.) let it sit for about 5 minutes, and then empty all of the "glue water"
4.) add more warm/hot water and let sit for 5 minutes
5.) if water is not clear, drain and repeat step 4
6.) when water is clear, remove envelope paper using long, spade-tipped tongs
7.) transfer stamps to second container of clear hot water, using spade tipped tongs *SEE BELOW
8.) remove stamps, one at a time to edge of container so that excess water can drain away
9.) when edge of container is completed surrounded by stamps, place them on waxed paper sheet in telephone directory
10.) stamps should not touch each other or overlap on waxed paper sheet
11.) when all of the stamps have been soaked, carefully close up the telephone book and weight it down.
12.) in several hours the stamps should be dry enough to transfer to a stock book, glassine envelope, or album

*STEP 7 Also, with modern stamps with polyvinyl acetate (pva) glue, it is advisable to gently rub the back of a stamp and dip it back into your soaking tub to see if a milky residue floats off. If this happens, more soaking is required to remove all of the glue. If all of the glue is not removed from some modern stamps, they can stick together, even when they are dry and damage the ink on the front of stamps they overlap in an envelope or stockbook.

Jack Kelley -- What exactly do you do with Pure Citrus and what types of adhesive is it overcoming for you?

Hi all, thanks for the tips.

@bookbndrbob, I am going to try your method.
Thanks!

@Petert4522, Ik ben bang dat ik de postzegels scheur tijdens het "helpen" loskomen van de zegel.
Meestal trek ik een beetje aan het papier tot dat hij (niet vanzelf dus) los is...
Dat is volgens mij niet de bedoeling.

Sorry guys for a piece of Dutch in my message, but Petert4522 asked to do that, so I did.

So the best way is to put them in a container and let them go for around 10 minutes, and after those minutes, take a look wich stamps are loose and which not...?

JanS,

Pure Citrus allows for almost immediate removal of a self-adhesive stamp from its backing. Once removed, clean up the back of the stamp with another application and scrape away using a credit card or paint scraper. Careful though; somebody reported in that it also removes cancellations if you're not careful. Can be found at supermarkets and Home Depot. Orange and White spray can.

Jack Kelley

Does anyone add anything to the water. Like soap or bleach?

Hi ronv, I soak them without any add-ons.
I know a method with just dishwasher soap, but I rarely use it.

Greetings, Rik

I was given a couple of large bottles of goo be gone. It says it's a citrus product. I tried on three stamps and they appear to be okay. Has anyone experienced anything negative from using this product?

I simply leave self adhesives on piece - but that is my personal preference.

Regards,
Stampalotapus

Okay, thanks all for your replies.
I think that bookbndrbob's way is the only way to soak them in the right way.
Additions and tips are always very welcome!

Greetings, Rik

sdtom be careful with the goo be gone. The fumes can be toxic, I use it to take labels off wine bottles but I only do a few at a time.

Dianne

I pretty much do the same except I put the wet stamps in a drying book for a few hours to dry. Then I put them in between wax paper and weight them down with several books. I will keep them like this for a couple of days. This basically separates the "drying" phase and the "flattening" phase. I found that if you put the wet stamps directly in the wax paper, the wax paper will become wet and wrinkled and your stamps will dry wrinkled.