Soaking And Drying Kiloware

I'm hurt.

Hi All
I use Desert Magic Drying Books.My first one I ruined as I put the stamps in wet and it turned black .
My second one is lasting much longer,as I let the stamps dry out before putting them in.
The book is produced by Showgard.
The stamps are placed face up on the glossy page and then a page of very stiff blotting paper is next ,you can fill the book up.Then I use my 5 volumes of Stanley Gibbons as weight.
The stamps always come out nice and flat.
You have to be careful with peel & stick as any adhesive left on them will stick to the page. Believe me.

No Sorry

You need to search SCF for soaking threads,

A New Zealand gentleman has solved the problem,
"Diggers white spirits" from bunnings
does the trick no gummy stuff left.

Search out the youtube video.

I prefer to dab (or blot) dry very carefully and place on a folded paper towel and place near the end of a nice thick book and place a few heavier books on top. I leave them to dry at least over night and then they are flat as a board and pressed beautifully. Sometimes a little paper sizing to stiffen if they are "floppy" but it does no harm as a quick soak removes it immediately. I hope this helps a bit. Happy soaking to you! ~Jay

What in the world is: Diggers white spirits" from bunnings

Bunnings is the (australian) store

Google white spirits for the US reference

Not a perfect solution, but a simple one: I use a pink eraser (pencil type eraser) and rub the sticky gum residue off the back of the stamp. A rather slow process and you do need to do it carefully, but for the few stamps I get in the mail these days that I wish to save as a collectible, the process works. The eraser takes off enough of the sticky residue that I can place the stamps in a stockbook without fear of them sticking to the page.

Like anything, one needs to expend energy and
pursue the difficult.
If you tried white spirits you will probably wonder
why you didn't use it before.
The stamps come out almost pristine, however there is the nagging
problem of how it will effect the stamps in the long run.

I dry my stamps on "old newspaper" until the surface looks
"just damp". Then I put them in a novel type book. I have
a stack of 7 books in the wash room. After 7 days the
stamps come out nice and smooooooth!

I bought one of those drying books recently from Amos Advantage so I could soak more stamps at the same time. I put them in there kind of wet because that was the only way they would stay on the page. I then put the book under something heavy. When I went to get the stamps out, they were stuck to the page. I was able to get most of them off, but the ones I saved were curled. How am I supposed to use the drying book correctly? Not put the book under something heavy?

Here's an article worth reading on this subject (taken from the American Philatelist, October 2010):

http://www.rpsc.org/video/soakaps.pdf

I use the Desert Magic drying books (Having 2 is a must), give the Stamps a quick shake when removing from soaking bowl, lay in drying books, stack 2 of my Scott's catalogs on top and presto! 24 hours later a perfectly flat Stamp.

I have never used a "drying book",
I use the freezer bag sandwich method,
however, whenever I retrieved stamps in the past
that curled, it was evidence they were not left drying
long enough.
I pat my stamps dry in a new tea towel, and leave
mine pressed for a week, sometimes up to
3 months when I have soaked thousands.

I dont think placing them under something heavy does any damage at all.

I use the desert drying books also.

I place the stamps upside down on paper towel just to get the excess moisture off. I then place them on in the book. I use 3 scott's catalogue on top of the drying book and leave them for 2 day. They are always perfectly flat.




The one thing you have to ensure is that the stamps go face up on the glossy type paper. Also the self adhesive stamps sometimes leave gum residue so I do check those before I put them in. I have found that with many self adhesives it's better to leave them on the paper and carefully trim around them.

Dianne

I think I mistakenly used the blotting paper for the stamps instead of the glossy paper in my drying book. I did have trouble with both the self-adhesives and the non-self-adhesives getting stuck to the page. I am going to change my method next time and see if I have better results. Soaking stamps is not my most favorite activity, so I only do it every so often!