Soaking 1¢ Franklin 1851 - 1861

Has anyone ever given a hot bath to an 1851 - 1861 1¢ Franklin ?
I have one that I got for a good price due to some foxing and overall grungy look but I figured I'd ask first, worried about possible fugitive Ink ?

I have soaked many and never had a problem. It's a good way to get rid of years of crud & old hinges
I usually use warm water not hot.

You just soak it right? Don't rub it or lightly brush with light bristle brush? Can you dry it with a hairdryer? Sorry for the newbie questions. I have some (used) grungy stamps also..I appreciate the feedback. Thanks...Gary

no artificial means of drying.
Use a drying book or make your own.
washing it in warm (CLEAN) water helps remove dirt. A dip in acetone or peroxide may help as well.
Never use HOT water or any means of drying other then a drying book or stick between two paper towels and put it in a heavy book with other books on top. remember a wet stamp tends to curl, it is normal.

So it would maybe be better to test my skills on some torn stamps? Versus destroying a whole stamp.

I've boiled many Stamps and nave never had one fall to pieces or bleed out. That being said I've never soaked one of the Franklins.

I use the Desert Magic books for drying.

I got this for a very good price for an imprint copy and if it cleans up nicely the value could double but I need to get rid of the foxing, here is the piece.



I believe the position is 70R9

If that brown stuff is true foxing, boiling the stamp is not going to take it out. True foxing as not mildew or mold and won't die. I only mention this so you don't have any false hopes about what boiling that stamp will do. Removal of true foxing is a complex problem in paper conservation. You might want to google the term "paper foxing" and check out some expert advice on it.

Good luck with the restoration.

I've had very good luck cleaning up stamps by soaking them in hydrogen peroxide. That said, I have no idea what it would do to a stamp of that age. Maybe somebody else has tried it and can tell us.

That appears to be "true" foxing...and I don't know that peroxide would clean that any anyway.

GAR,

If the stamp is dirty, put just a little bit of liquid soap in the water and very gently rub it between you fingers after its soaked for a bit. Having just said that I wouldn't do this on the real thin stamps or stamps with grills or torn stamps. Try it out 1st on a space filler.

Art

In most cases foxing can be repaired. However the process is more than a simple cleaning. More than not the paper may have hidden damage. This happens when the integrity of the paper has compromised. Thus you may find times when after cleaning the stamp will need filled to complete the restoration.

I'm not trying to debate the ethics of stamp repair, that is best discussed on another thread.

Personalty I have had many classics repaired.

I use this company and they do a great job.

http://home.golden.net/~hanssitt/SR...ml#PriceList

I will note that any one can determine a repaired stamp from an original it is not that hard.

Well, here is the results from round 1. Overall the toning spots are definitely lighter and it did spruce it up a bit.

Method.

1st. Filled finger bowl with the hottest water I can get from my Kitchen sink and a drop or two of Dawn dish washing detergent, let sit for 15 minutes then with tongs gently move it through the sudsy water a few times, empty bowl refill with hot water and rinse.

2nd. Put water in a saucepan and brought it to a boil on the Stove, poured boiling water into finger bowl and let Stamp sit in boiling water for 10 minutes, remove stamp and rinse under cool water. Gently shake excess water off and placed in Desert magic drying book.

Before



After

"I will note that any one can determine a repaired stamp from an original it is not that hard".

That very much depends on the quality of the repair work, the tools one has at hand, and the experience of the examiner. Making this kind of blanket statement about an area with so much potential difficulty is not accurate.

So far so good.

A drop of bleach in the water may work wonders on that one - as long as it wouldn't affect the ink of course. I tried to bleach a 114 once and it erased the ink lol. But that's the only stamp that had that any visible affect to the ink out of maybe 10-15 that I've tried it with

Agree with Art on this one....a little bit of dish washing soap, or something like SoftSoap, in a little bit of warm water, and very carefully washing the stamp with your fingers works well.

To plate the 1c Franklins, washing the stamp is a must, since you're looking for sometimes very faint plate markings, little bits of dust, hair and dirt can be misleading....

Thanks, Ray

Found this, and it sounded reasonable enough to try, and thought I'd share it:

http://www.ehow.com/how_12098678_re...-prints.html

Hope this helps, Ray