Hinge Remnant

I have been removing bunches of stamps from old album pages to put in new ones and many come off the album page but the hinge just won't easily release from the stamp. It seems every soaking must degrade a stamp a little, so I have been just close trimming the hinge and leaving the remnant. So is that OK - most of these stamps are not monetarily valuable at all. What do others do or what is the quick fix?

Well, I would experiment with cheap stamps, and I would try this (although it sounds crazy): put the stamp in the refrigerator for a while (couple of minuts or more?), then try gently to remove the hinge. It MIGHT work.

OK, I will give that a try. It seems like a really "cool" idea. (Sorry I had to say it before someone else did.)

Scouter are you planning on ever moving the stamps again to another album in your lifetime?
Do you have lots of free time and a desert magic drying book?

My Grandfather a man of few words "so everything he did say was important". liked to say do it right the first time and you will never have to do it again and it will be a job you will be proud of.


To me its a time vs end result scenario. if I have time or its something I really like I soak off the hinges and dry them in my desert magic drying album. (best purchase to date!)

however if you are RE-hinging them in a new album (whats the point of taking off a hinge and putting a newer harder to remove one directly onto the stamp?) then that old hinge may actually protect that stamp if you need to remove it later.
in the end you look at the fronts not the back it its not unsightly and or its not going to damage the stamp a level head would say hinge on the remnant and put in book that way you don't risk further damaging the stamps and if necessity arises it can still be removed in the future and the 2 remnants soaked off together.

I've heard of the freezer for wet stamps trying to remove tape.

If you are going to re-hinge, it is probably best to freeze or soak them off. Soaking does not necessarily degrade the stamp (but there are some fugitive inks out there so do your research before soaking classics).