My Stamps Stink

Hi! I'm new to the forum and to stamp collecting in general. Recently, I've bought quite a bit of stamps from various countries on ebay, to start my collection somewhere. Well, I've been buying stamps from various postal offices online too, and all those are new/mint and perfect. The problem I've faced is with those older stamps I've bought on ebay. They stink. Literally. They smell so bad that I can't even look at them and handle them for longer than just a few seconds. They smell like old books that have been kept somewhere in a cellar. Most stamps are from 1980's, some older, some newer, some even from the 2000's. I enjoy looking at stamps, many have fabulous design, etc. But I just can't stand that disgusting smell! It is bad. None of the stamps have any signs of mold, just the smell. Is there a way to get rid of it at all? I don't want to ruin them, but I doubt any of them are that valuable, if at all. I bought most of them in bulk, like 50-100-200 at a time.

Another smell issue is the cigarette smoke. I bought 4 packages of theme stamps (like ships, cats, etc) from one website. When I opened those packages, I almost fell over. The smell is so strong. I don't smoke and maybe it smells stronger to me. But I don't like that smoke smell and I don't want to put these stamps into an album so that the album itself doesn't absorb the smell.

My question is:
Is there a way to get rid of these two kinds of smell? I'd like to do it at home, if possible, not using any "specialists" or services. Perhaps, there is a simple trick to it? Thanks!

If thety are used you can always resoak them, and then redry them. That will take out a lot of the odor.

I've personally never encountered the problem, but a quick web search reveals any number of ways to reduce or eliminate the odor from stamps (or paper products in general).

The preferred method may be as PoStat4evR suggested...simply resoak them. In fact, use a drop or two of soap or dishwashing liquid (the manual wash type of liquid, not the stuff used for automatic dishwashers, as that contains bleach and would damage the stamps) and it would help to eliminate the odor, too.

Another suggestion is to wrap the offending stamps in a plastic bag with baking soda. It would take about 4 days or so in that plastic bag before you'd see an appreciable difference in the removal of the odor.

I've also heard that some people take the offending stamps and wrap them in a bag and place them in a frost free freezer and after a few days the odor dissipates.

I've also heard of it done with charcoal or with dryer sheets from the laundry, but with varying degrees of success.

I'd try it as an experiment with a few "expendable" stamps just to see how it works for you before taking your entire collection and treating it in any one way.

Hope these ideas offer some help.

There was a recent thread here about getting the cigarette smoke smell off of stamps, but I can't seem to find it. I'll keep looking, but it's here somewhere.
And, welcome to the forum. You'll enjoy it here, I'm sure.

Please see also this thread:

https://goscf.com/t/11007

That's the one. Thanks Smauggie
It actually would have kept me up tonight.

The baking soda fix works well, It just takes several days.

Man, when I saw the thread title I figured I would make a post about my disappointment with some recent stamp acquisitions.

Then I realized the thread title was meant to be taken literally...

Go ahead and start a new thread!

I'd be interested in reading of other collector's experiences in this way, too!

i gotta say, for stamps to smell like smoke, the person must have had for a long time and been a heavy smoker.

Hi! Coloboque!

Mostly bad smells are from the lack of oxygen. It is the smell, decay takes on, being fungus and mildew etc.
My ability to smell is full on, I can smell fear for instance.
But the only unpleasant stamp smell I have come across is moth balls.
I really hope your stamps are used because you need to soak with a couple of drops of a good, gentle on the hands, dish washing detergent to rid your stamps from the process of decaying.
To soak always check what happens to damage stamps first. So every different issue needs a soak checked first before those good stamps hit the water.

Always Happy Stamping! KGV.

Oh, wow, thank you everybody so much for lots of advice! I'll try soaking some stamps - I always use natural household products. I have several packages of aluminum-free baking soda and will put it into a plastic container with lid and add some stamps. Just to see the difference between the soaked ones and soda treated ones.

Thanks also for the link to the smoker's album, I've read it too. At least, there is a solution to this bad smell. Such a relief!

Coloboque it looks like you got plenty of great suggestions, so I will simply say welcome to the forum and I hope we get a chance to see some of your stamps (once they are a little less stinky) WELCOME - jeff

Thanks, Jeff. I looked at the SHIPS thread - boy, I have hundreds of ship stamps as I love tall ships and ships in general. I'm tempted to post the pictures (I have some scanned, but those weren't the stinky ones, hehe), but the thing is I really have hundreds and don't want to overwhelm the forum with all those pics. One the other hand, I'm sort of new to stamp collecting and only care what I like. :-) I don't know much about the value and such, so I wouldn't know which of my stamps are more interesting to post here. But I'll try to look at some and pick maybe some odd ones, or more beautiful ones.

Coloboque,

I wouldn't worry too much about what we like. Because we like them all. Scan and post to your hearts content. Besides, if you like the stamp enough to collect it, we probably would like it too.





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