Self-Adhesive Stamps

How do you soak or clean the gum off self-adhesive stamps without destroying the stamp?

Welcome to the forum oldgringo4

I guess the best way to answer is this way: It depends on the country of origin. Some countries are easier to soak than others. Personally, I have found the US, Australia and NZ the hardest to soak and a lot of collectors are starting to keep them 'on piece'. Countries such as Canada, Great Britain and Germany, to name a few, soak off a-ok.

This is based on my personal findings when I soaked close to 25 pounds WW in the summer of 2010.

Chimo

Bujutsu

Viejo Gringo,

I have been using "Mineral Spirits" for quite some time now and it seems to work out very well. I soak them in a resealable plastic tub for at least a half an hour. I then pick them up with needle nose pliers. The pliers keeps my fingers out of the spirits and helps to peal the stamp off the paper. After a day of drying I then give them a talcum powder bath. This keep them from sticking together. It takes time but my results are just fine.

Ray

The person uses lighter fluid to do it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWMcVYgIZjM

I just use water, but I start with hotter than normal. I can coax about 95% off the paper, and all the adhesive stays on the paper, so no need for talc. I do wind up with a few casualties though, and a few stubborn ones I just leave on the paper and trim. Most of the ones I have are U.S. defin's from mid 90's to early 2000's (I bought a LARGE quantity). Haven't tried many recent commem's though, so I can't say how well I'd do.

Spain,

Hot water works but can leave certain stamps with wrinkle's and the center also retains a spot where the glue was.

Well, maybe I should have said warmer than the usual lukewarm, not really hot hot.

I use Pure Citrus Air Freshener.

Spray it on the envelope side of the stamp, wait 2-3 seconds, and peel off the stamp. Let stamp dry, then rub a little baby powder on the sticky side.

Some stubborn stamps (or perhaps it is the envelope material) require a little longer wait before peeling.

This does not work with the old-fashioned water activated stamps, but works like a charm with self-adhesives. No thinning. Doesn't discolor stamps. Doesn't affect cancelations (with rare exception of some spray on cancels that seem to "run" if they get realy wet with the spray, so spray lightly on back side and peel before it soaks in too much).

If you're doing a lot of stamps, do it in a well-ventilated area unless you really like the smell of orange air freshener. I have the best smelling garage in the neighborhood.

Hi,
Self adhesive stamps are wonderful for the "user", but a real problem for us collectors. After various attempts at soaking, with mixed results, I just cut around the stamp and place them in Scott mounts. I gotta tell you, self adhesive stamps are the primary reason I'm not collecting US stamps after 1993 (the last year in the national album).