Need Advice On Stamp Drying Book.

I've tried the "heavy book flattening method. My husband complained about piles of books all over the house. I guess if I don't want him rebuilding his Jag engine on the dinning room table I'd better not make too much of a mess.

Dianne

The only thing I can add to the good advice you've already gotten, Dianne, is to make sure you remove as much water as possible from the stamp before putting it into the drying book so you don't overwhelm the absorbancy of the pages. Then, like someone else said, make sure the pages are completely dry as quickly as possible after you remove the stamps. I put mine in front of a fan in the back bedroom while I'm at work and presto-chango, when I get home they're ready to go again.

Thanks Greg

That's very good advice. I was wondering how much moisture these books could handle.

Dianne

I was placing my stamps face down on a bath towel and when dry they would be curled up so then I was using books to flatten them but I found that they were still slightly curled , later I tried the book method while stamps were slightly damp and it was a big difference the stamps stayed flat ,but on a couple ocasions the stamp adhered right on the paper , I'm going to try the wax paper next time.

In my experience, even wax paper and the drying books can be problematic with some of the newer German issues. They stick anyway unless you're really careful getting all the glue off. The U.S. are not so bad . . . Oh yeah, that's right. YOU CAN'T GET THE GLUE OFF U.S. AT ALL! (The previous statement was a slight exaggeration to emphasize my point. It should not be taken literlly.)

So a powder solution is therefore also in order like the US stamps?

That's right. Philatelically speaking, the new US stamps aren't worth the powder to blow them away.

Its good that makfarm advised me to use powder in the sticky stamp problem thread

I use the Showgard Drying books and am pleased with the result. I can't tell you how many 1000's I've soaked using them and they still have a lot of miles left. I load them up and stack books on them to press 'em. (I finally found a use for the books I kept from Law School). The timing that works best for me is soak today/tonight, dry tomorrow and mount the next day. Smaller loads would dry faster but I like the routine, structure - military, you know.

Me again.

I'm feeling a little chatty today. Just thought I'd update on how I find the showgard stamp drying books. I love them. No more ironing stamps and they take up only a small corner of my dining room table instead of all horizontal surfaces in my house.

I've filled both up twice now and have only have one stamp stick (I wasn't careful in ensuring all the gum was off.

I'm going to go at it again today. Thanks for all the advice guys.

Dianne

If you have a stamp that sticks first all of make sure it is very dry. Then you can flex the page so a part of stamp comes off. After you get a part of it off you should be able to lift the stamp.

However make sure it is dry or you can lift some of that special covering off of the page.

Ok how many stamps can you put through these books? I would say more than most people ever will. I have soaked over 10 pounds of stamps since around September.

I even had to wash them in a tub of chlorox and water after I put them on top of my hot water radiator and they mildewed.

You want to talk about holding water, I never thought I would get the books dried out. However placing near my dehumidifier along with a fan they were as good as new.

My books have been through a war and they now show a little wear and tear, but nothing more than I would expect from heavy use.

I would know what I would have done without them, they do a good job, save space and well they just work great.

MK..I have no idea how many stamps you can pump thru the drying booksw but it's bunch. I've been using mine for years. I'm probably going to have to get a new one or so because I've worn the hinges out although the hinges are really not necessary to the process.