Drying Soaked Stamps Without A Drying Book

Tong (Tweezers) wars!

I think its all a matter of what you are comfortable with. I'm a long tong paddle man, myself (Showgard 904).

Jack Kelley

Ricky,
free stamps sent today, Australian as preferred.

Thank you Rod.
Now with two bowls, the sandwich method works perfect.
The stamps now come off without sticking to anything!

"Success from endeavor"
Well done Rik,
So the mucilage was dissolved in the soak water.

Sometimes on early Great Britain stamps, the mucilage is so thick and brown, you have to gently rub betwixt thumb and digit, to remove.

I wonder if the shiny paper contains something that stuck to the stamps?

I really don't know that.
Maybe does Rod know that?

Opinion.
I don't think so, the trouble with shiny (surfaced) paper, it buckles after getting wet or moist, hence the sandwich stamps get slightly buckled.
With soft porous paper, they come out super flat.

Regarding tongs, I have sworn by Prinz unbent spade tips for years, and actually grip them near the back, where they first separate. I find that they are far gentler on delicate and wet stamps, less likely to scratch the plastic on stockbook pages, and that the beveling keeps them from damaging perfs. They also are very good for safely relocating stacks of loose stamps. The reason I grip mine so far back is personal in nature, though; I have an incredibly strong grip, and don't want to risk accidentally "embossing" a stamp if I'm not paying attention. Better safe than sorry.

That said, I don't really think it matters which tongs you use, so long as they match the way your hands work, and don't have any sharp edges.

I also use paper towels. I place the stamps face down, put another single piece of paper towel over it to press water out and blot any remaining spots. I then transfer the stamps quickly while slightly damp to the inside cover of an old large hardcover book that contains no markings, printing etc. I transfer them face down but first check that there is no glistening on the face which, if present, is patted dry. I then close the book and turn it over so the weight of the pages bears down on the drying stamps.

I usually find that 24 hrs is an adequate amount of time but truthfully, many times I forget that I put them there until days, weeks, or months later when I open the book only to find the perfectly dry flat stamps that I soaked sometimes in the past. Been doing this for at least 20 yrs. works well on everything except the self stick stamps. To me, trying to get the adhesive off of them is very difficult, not worth the time, or even if very careful, the paper is so flimsy that it tears. For high value recent stamps with a nice cancel I usually live them on piece or as a cut square

I soak lots of stamps, almost everyday, for many years now.

I do not use drying books.
I do not use paper towels.
I do not use blotting paper.
I do not use freezer bags.
I do not use white copy paper.

I use high quality, soft, cotton hand towels.
I use laminate boards with a slick waterproof surface.
I use old Scott catalogues, with slick surface covers, for pressing.

There are 3 stages to a stamp coming out of your soaking water:
Wet stamp
Damp stamp
Almost dry stamp

Wet stamp to damp stamp> Lightly blot between soft towels. Do not use rough surface towels, they will dent your stamps. Towels will become crusty from gum after many soakings, just wash in washing machine and fluff in dryer to renew softness. No need for paper towels.

Damp stamp to Almost dry stamp>Lay face down and let air dry. Cover with a light-weight paperback book if needed to slow drying and prevent excessive curling until you have a batch ready to press. Uncover and leave them out in the air until almost dry.

Almost dry stamp> A stamp that will not stick to your finger when you press down on it and will easily slide around on your laminate board, yet still feels a little bit damp. Slide them around on your board face down placing them close together. No blotting paper needed.
Place old Scott catalogue over your almost dry stamps.

Repeat process. Stack up boards 8 to 10 high. Put heavy weight of books or other weights on top of stack. Stamps will dry in 24 hours, but 48 hours makes them really flat and dry, which is what I prefer, so I soak 4 or 5 boards a day and process 4 or 5 boards a day in a rotating process. There are always 8 to 10 boards in my stack overnight.

From my experience, your stamps will stick, or you will put wrinkles in the cover of your pressing Scott catalogues, if you press DAMP stamps. You should only press ALMOST DRY stamps.

Hope this helps one of you,

Linus

This is a picture of two of my laminate boards, along with two old Scott catalogues, that I use for pressing out "Almost Dry" stamps as described in my post above. They were leftover scrap boards from a kitchen floor remodeling job in my house.

Linus

Linus I like your setup! I do it a similar way when I'm not using the drying books, and just use a white bath towel, then when dry I press them in an old Minkus catalog for a day. I think the books are useful when you have restricted horizontal surface area for drying.

Thanks Loupy. I have never tried putting stamps inside a book before. I always just lay them face down on my boards, and smash them down with a Scott catalogue. Repeat and stack them up. Free desk space is always desirable, and this method uses very little space on your desk.

Small definitive stamps 6 X 8 = 48 per board
Commemorative stamps 6 X 4 plus 3 across bottom = 27 per board
Jumbo commemoratives 4 X 4 = 16 per board
Blocks of 4 commemoratives 2 X 2 = 4 per board

Keep stamps close together in the center of the board so that the Scott catalogue covers them with an inch buffer space all the way around. Too close to the edge, the stamp will not be totally flat.

Linus

Folks,

I've soaked a lot of stamps over the years. Used drying books for awhile and found over time the pages warped from the moisture(probably should have weighted them down).

Tried old telephone or other heavy books which worked not bad, however sometimes they ink would bleed unto the stamps.

Finally settled on tea towels or towels for drying dishes. I stick with ones that have a fairly smooth surface and not textured.

Soak the stamps and spread them out on one of the towels. Place a 2nd towel on top. Placing a weight over the top is optional I don't bother as I store the stamps in universal(vario) sheets which flatens them after they've dried.

Regards
Bill