Removing Stamps From Old Albums

I have a couple of the commonly seen hardback red stamp albums that have maybe 5-10 stamps per one-side page. I usually reach a scissor between the stamp and page and clip the hinge - leaving a little more hinge on the stamp that I would want, but I don't necessarily soak it. Alternatively I guess I could trip page into pieces and soak the stamps off. There are a few pages that are so complete that I might just remove the whole page and put it into a sheet protector since all of my albums are three-ring. Anyway, have I covered my options - what is the correct procedure for removing just one or two stamps from an album page?

No scissors for me! I would take hold of the stamp and slowly peel the hinge away from the album page. Then I would give the hinge a gentle tug to see if it might peel away from the stamp. (As you're probably aware, some hinges will peel away better than others.)

If the hinge doesn't want to peel away from the stamp, I would have to decide if I wanted to leave it that way or soak it.

An alternative to removing the stamp from the page is to clip a piece of paper from the album page about one inch square (or less) to which your stamp is hinged. If you want to place the stamp in a new album, your own new hinge will be attached to the piece of album paper, not the stamp.

I would use round nosed tongs to do any gentle pulling/tugging.

Personally, I use a moist Q-Tip and rub it over the hinge that is attached to the stamp. I found that a tad bit of moisture will release the hinge from the stamp quite easily. This seems to me to be better than cutting album pages and soaking off entire stamps. It can be somewhat tedious, but it's less of a mess than some of the other options.

Stamplift

Steam also works well and quickly!

Entirely depends on the album and hinge combination. I've peeled, soaked, clipped, used Ronsonol -- you name it. Experiment -- and, naturally, start with a very cheap stamp.

Hi

I have removed stamps from many collections. When breaking down a collection I use spade tip tongs. I gently pull the stamp and if it doe not come free I try a trick someone once showed me. I rub the hinge with the tongs. It seems that the small amount of friction heat will loosen the hinge gum in some cases. If that doesn't work I will rub the back side of the page under the hinge, if possible. Last resort is to cut the hinge with the edge of the tongs. Also, I find that the spade tip tongs makes it easier to insert a stamp into a stock sheet.

Jerry B

in most cases, you'll be able to peel of the hinge. sometimes hinge will break in two pieces and then if you can't peel it soaking will come in place for used stamps.