Taking Off The Stamps From Envelope?

I have a question when I take stamps from envelope I usely put them in hot water and they come out easy but I have problem with the USA stamps they stick on the envelope is there a way taking them off?
thank

I would suggest you use tepid or VERY slightly warm water rather than hot, as hot water may damage some of the inks (and will definitely cause dye in colored paper to run). You might not ever run into ink that will run, but if you do...well that is too late. Lukewarm water works as well as hot anyway (or nearly enough as well).

U.S. stamps made in the last few years are self-adhesive not water activated. The best way to get them off the paper is not to soak them, but use any of several solutions on the back of the paper. That makes them come loose very quickly, but leaves the glue side sticky when they dry out. You can apply talcum or other non-stick agents to make them permanently non-sticky. The whole process is discussed in several areas of the forum.

thanks buck I will try to see the other forum on it

Well said Buck. The only thing that I can add to that is some people will leave it attached to the paper. You can trim pretty carefully. Take a look at the small chopper some of the stamp companies sell.
Tom

I also fel the need to point out that taking the stamp off of an envelope will take away it's postal history connections and potentially ruin any affiliated value. Also I'd shudder to think that anyone would out-rightly destroy a pre-1940's cover of it's postage to simply fill a hole in an album when so many actual singles exist (millions by comparison) that it should be considered a stamp crime! Simply put -Don't do it with classic covers. Just my thoughts on the matter.

What do you suggest about modern covers? I can't imagine a mailer from a stamp dealer having much future value when the stamps aren't worth that much alone. I have a box of modern covers that I am unsure if I want to cut the stamps off as they are nothing fancy.

Believe it or not some used covers for some postal rates are hard to find for some modern stamps with specific usages that are of interest to postal historians.

If you have the space to hold on to them and no other "good" reason to remove them, I'd leave the stamps on cover.

Here's a couple of thoughts: Classic covers were once modern covers; likewise, your modern covers will someday be "classic" covers. Also, you can always remove the stamps from the envelopes later, but you can't put them back.

Thanks for the replies

The postmarks or cancels are of interest also to cancel collectors and postal history buffs, as well as local history or event enthusiats. Dates can be of interest also.

The answers have already covered all the main points. Another idea is to select a (modern day, inexpensive) circulated cover as a candidate for a cacheted cover, if it has suitable stamp(s). You can have fun and add your own cachet to such a circulated cover by hand-drawing or painting, or gluing a collage/cut-out, etc.

I've done what DC3 has suggested
Tom

Scott's 2014 Specialized Catalogue of the United States Stamps & Covers has a new symbol - a black "S" with a red circle around it. Which essentially means, "Warning, Do not soak" Scott recommends that these stamps so marked in their catalog are best collected on piece and not soaked to separate from envelope. (Back to cut squares again-HaHa)

First, let me preface my comments by supporting the idea that you leave stamps on cover if at all possible. It is my opinion that given the reduced usage of actual postage stamps on daily mail (as opposed to computer generated postage or metered postage now offered at a discount rate) along with the proliferation of many, many different stamps (both commemoratives and definitves) will make many postally used covers showing legitimate and contemporaneous postal usage on cover a collectible in years to come.

If circumstances (i.e. storage issues) demand that you must detach the stamps from the envelopes or covers and are simply concerned about storing used stamps, do keep in mind that the Scott Catalog publishers have agreed that used values shown in their catalog are for examples retained either on or off paper. Since there's always some risk in damaging stamps when taking them off paper, I see no reason why most collectors don't just trim them and keep them on paper. It prevents damage from occurring to the stamps and doesn't affect catalog value. Any future owner of the stamp can elect to do whatever they please with it after it's out of your possession. Of course, that's assuming you have a relatively manageable amount of stamps. Some large volume collectors or accumulators may disagree, as storage of on-paper stamps does take up more space and can become a problem after awhile.

One word of caution is that today's modern US stamps have a self adhesive formula that is intentionally designed to hold tighter to the envelope as time goes on. In other words, if you choose to collect used stamps on paper, fine; if you intend to remove the stamps from the cover, it would serve you well to remove them as quickly as possible as it will only become harder to remove them from envelopes later on.

Claupe,

If you want to take the self-adhesives off the envelope paper (and as described above, there are often good reasons to just leave them on), it can be done fairly easily, with the right materials.

There are several solvents that can be used to remove these self-adhesive gum stamps from their backing paper. I've used Pure Citrus Orange air freshener, and it works great.

You can find an article that was in the American Philatelist on this topic here:

AP Article on Removing Used Self-Adhesives



You can even see a video of the author of the article demonstrating his technique here:

Demonstration Video



Although the video doesn't show this, you can completely remove the gum residue from the stamp with a clean rag wetted with the solvent, or scrape it off with a straight edge (I use an old credit card). It works very well and there's no need for any water in the process at all.



I bought the Pure Citrus Orange at Home Depot for about $4. It's also available on Amazon here:

Pure Citrus Orange On Amazon


Use care with the solvents. Of course, this is all done at your own risk.

There's also a good forum thread on this subject here:

https://goscf.com/t/31563&whichpage...Terms=citrus

Matt

I actually sort through pounds of stamps and leave a lot of the older ones in tact. Of course the stamps I'm purchasing are cut right to the perfs so there's not much historical value, if any, left.

The newer self adhesive stamps have been printed in such a fashion that their inks are pretty darn steadfast. They set well and with the amount of additives to oil based inks these days, it'll take a steel rasp to remove the ink from them. Being a printer by trade, I am very aware of inks and their properties, as well as inks used in the hey day. I bring this up because warmer, almost hot, water will active the adhesive on newer stamps. It doesn't happen simultaneously but they will eventually move.

I've also been able to determine just by looking at the stamps which ones are going to come off with water and which ones need additional or an alternative method. I use a chemical called Bestine on the back of such stamps. After about 30 seconds, they peel right off. Of course use kid gloves and patience. After the stamp has dried, which is not long because Bestine evaporates quickly, gently rub the back of the stamp with powder. This adheres to the adhesive and makes the stamp not sticky. I couldn't find Bestine locally so bought it off Amazon. You can then wet them a tad and throw in a drying book under pressure to return them to their flat position as they will curl when you peel the stamp off.

It really is a tedious project, but it gives me something to do. As far as the older stamps go, the guys are right - leave them intact if you have the chance and never use hot water. The viscosity of older inks and their lack of binding additives make them very susceptible to running or fading. I took an older stamp of which I had dozens and tried a solvent from work on the back of it. When I was finished all that left was a piece of paper. It had dissolved all the ink from it.

Don't rush. Nothing worse than being excited about a new find and then ruining it because you were hurried into removing the paper.