Acetone And Scotch Tape

Wow! You had better luck than I did. I'll try your timings.
Tom

Looks like that last batch really suffered fading across the board Mike, especially the blue one top row, wow.

This was my second experiment with the acetone. I used a very small tupperware container and left the stamp in the acetone for five minutes. Then I rinsed it off with water and then soaked it in a detergent(tiny amount) for 15 minutes re-rinsed and dried. You can see the result. It took a hopeless cancel and made it okay.
Tom

I forgot to mention it was nail polish remover from Walmart not straight acetone. The acetone evaporates pretty quickly and it turned black as I expected.
Tom

Reviving an old thread to see if there have been any further investigations or chemicals used that eliminate the brown tape marks, yet not affect the stamps. I am currently going through the process of trying to save some of my Dad's stamp collection that was mounted with Crystal Mounts and tiny pieces of tape to keep the stamps in. (subject of another thread)

I have been using Acetone on the MNH stamps and in a lot of cases, mainly engraved stamps, the results are great and the tape and brown spot disappear after approx. 10 minutes, the ink is not affected, nor is the gum. However, for Typo stamps the results are mixed. Usually the ink starts bleeding after a few minutes before the brown spot is totally gone. On Litho stamps the ink seems to dissolve immediately and I end up with very faint images of the stamp once the brown spot is gone. Has anyone else discovered this or found a better solution?

Mike, It may have faded some but it looks way better.

Jack Kelley

I suggest you go to Paper conservation sites on the Internet:

http://www.ala.org/alcts/preservati...removingtape

https://sflac.net/paper-conservatio...ain-removal/

https://www.hunker.com/13423506/how...s-from-paper

There are many more site and video's on You-tube

I use acetone every day at work. I work in a machine shop and it is the best way to quickly remove oil/grease/etc from things, or oil-based paints. It is powerful. It penetrates bare skin and can cause harm - especially to the liver. I use it all the time to remove tape residue in an instant. Also, if the Scotch Tape itself is still there, acetone will dissolve the actual tape. It will act on many types of plastic, so be careful. If I were soaking something, I would use a (preferably) metal container, or glass, or (lastly) ceramic. Forget plastic, unless you have tested it first - we use plastic squeeze bottles to hold it at work stations at work - don't know what kind of plastic it is, but the containers are made specifically for acetone. If I want to soak something in acetone, I put it in a metal dish and put a 'lid' on it - almost anything will do, like a piece of cardboard. I wouldn't use a plastic lid, as addressed above. Acetone evaporates very, very quickly! Always use it in a well-ventilated area!

I have never soaked stamps (been collecting for almost 50 years) in acetone. It is a strong chemical. I would think one could have success with engraved stamps. I would expect problems with modern printed stamps, like photogravure, but I cannot speak on that from experience. Because it evaporates so quickly, I would not worry too much about soaking the stamp in water after an acetone bath - there MAY be some water-soluble 'stuff' remaining on the stamp (completely unaffected by acetone), so a water-soak may help that. I am always amazed at how acetone practically flows through a paper towel, and leaves the towel completely unaffected - it appears that acetone doesn't react with paper at all.

I would expect that there is a place in philately for acetone. It is a strong chemical, with associated hazards, so be careful. Because it is so strong, it can be a 'miracle cure' in some cases, or a 'destroyer of worlds' in others. You are forewarned.

I use it on my airbrush for model railroading.

Model railroading?? Me, too! I just use thinner on my airbrush, but I will bet acetone is quicker and cleaner. I learn so much on SCF.

So lets say you spot a pricy cover online that you would really like to have, you order it and it arrives. When you get the cover out you immediately notice the smell of acetone but the seller never disclosed that they chemically altered the cover. Upon close inspection you can see very faint tape mounting marks on the cover. Would you be ok with this?
Don

No.

I would only attempt to use acetone if the item were clearly mine (found it in an old box), no possibility of returning it, and if it were as good as garbage with the damage. Since I have nothing to lose, then I may attempt an acetone bath. If it works, all y'all would read me bragging about my superior philatelic skills. If it doesn't work, all y'all will probably never hear about it. I love you guys - I don't want you to be disappointed in me. (;-)

If I could stand to lose quite a bit, I would steer clear of acetone. For me, it's a last-resort type of thing.

Food for thought….

Perhaps 50 years ago a collector thought the same thing, and applied chemicals to the costly stamp you are buying today. Will acetone make changes to the paper chemistry over time?

To be good stewards of the material we temporarily are holding, perhaps we should do one of two things;
1. preserve our stamps and covers in their current condition and maintain as good as environmental condition that we can
2. if the stamp/cover is worth it to us to conserve or perhaps even restore; then pay a professional to do the job correctly, document the work done, and keep preservation history with the item.

And when we post our 'last resort' restoration experiments in a public forum, are we encouraging others to do the same? (rhetorical question)

On the other hand I support personal property rights, folks can do whatever they want with the material they own. But 'having a right' and 'doing the right thing' can be two different things.
Don

So I am a model railroader also. Wonder how many share these two hobbies. I also have a gallon of acetone hanging around, use it for all sorts of cleaning and degreasing projects. Diluted it removes finger nail polish