Stuck Stamps Help

HELP when my Dad was going through my grandmas things he gave me some of her stamps there not real old but I now have some of Elvis the king but a few of them are stuck together back to back not the elvis ones though so how do I get them apart without ruining them? also when you talk about soaking stamps what is the method of this? THanks

I think there's no way to part them, without removing the gum. Now for some people removing the gum of an unused stamp is the same as ruining it, for some it doesn't matter at all.
But as they are stuck together and you'll probably "destroy" the gum anyways, if you don't want to keep them stuck together, you can soak them without hesitation.
Only my opinion, though.



Maybe this is helpful to you: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGQMPXEw__I

Thanks Drudenfus ill watch that now I have a few stamps to soak

I agree..I think soaking will do the trick...be sure to use Hot water

Hot water would speed things up considerably. However, I respectfully disagree with this suggestion.

In general, I would strongly suggest advise AGAINST using hot water, and not even use warm water (a few exceptions to this when soaking some of the modern US self-adhesives).

Warm water speeds up the gum dissolving process, but also speeds up almost all sort of other dissolving and chemical interactions.

Some cancellation inks may run. Also some red and purple stamp inks may also run (e.g., the purple Edith Wharton stamp from the US).

Any residual chlorine radicals in the water (many places now have higher than normal levels) will become very active in warm water and you may not realize some stamp fading afterwards.

Also, any stamps on red/green colored envelopes may get stained by the envelope. These should be separately soaked, even when using cold water.

A lot of issues, can ruin part of the batch of stamps you are soaking. Therefore, I don't recommend using warm water unless you feel comfortable about the ink resistance to warm water. Admitted, I am a bit picky about this. It only takes one mess up to get real picky.

Just my opinion. Others may very well have a different take, and I'd be interested in reading those opinions/experiences.

On a side note, if you use the catalogs and see the phrase "aniline" ink (e.g., aniline red...) or the term fugitive colors, do not soak these stamps at all. The colors will dissolve and you may end up with a nearly blank piece of paper! These stamps don't appear often, but thought I would mention it.

Have fun soaking!

k

Well in one sense the stamps Tina have are damaged already, soaking in hot is bad and khj is right on. Try ice water, use ice to cool the water to 35-40 degrees, don't put the cubes on the ice it highly reduces the chances of chemical breakdowns on the stamp.

One of the ways you can have some degree of success with stuck together mint stamps is to use a "sweat box" which is no more than a humidity chamber. There is a commercial one available that's been around for years is the "Stamplift". Subway carries it. You can also make one quite easily and various plans/approaches are available on the 'net'. Just google stamp sweat box and you should get some ideas. Realistically, I have had mixed success with this process although I know several people that are very good at it. Good luck. I have to wonder if all the bother for modern mint U.S. stamps is worth when they can be soaked, reglued, and used for postage.