Soaking Stamps - A Rookie Mistake...

Hi,
Yesterday afternoon I soaked about 50 Russian stamps - most from the 20s and 30s - and immediately put them in a drying book.

In the early evening I checked on them and they were a bit damp, but just barely. Soooo, I pulled them from the book and set them out for later on, when I would put them in an album.

Yup, when I came back most all of them were curled, some into a tube!

I knew better, but got anxious...........

Anyway, I dampened them and carefully got them back into the drying book - not at all an easy task.

I guess you are never too old to make a newbie mistake..........

I've soaked them a second time when that happened. Not the end of the world.

Another rookie mistake is soaking off old stamps from envelopes (covers) and postcards that are historically more important and also more valuable if they were left intact and on their cover/postcard with their postmarks and postal markings since postal history is an important philatelic area. Many important covers have had their stamps cut off of them which has ruined these covers. I have heard horror stories of kids being given their old family correspondence covers from the 1800's and they soaked off these stamps from their covers resulting in many soaked off duplicates while ruining many unique covers.

Been there done that. Now I leave the stamps in the drying book for a minimum of 2 days and usually 3.

Dianne

24 hours or so has been working for me. I think the longer the better.


-IBFS

Oh jogil reading that makes me cringe! Worse than nails on the chalkboard!

Drying for 2 days is always a winner, but I have found several hours will do in a pinch if they are going directly into a stock book where they can cure.
As for the covers, YIKES! I love old postcards and covers. I dont even soak off or cut recent stuff anymore.

I've soaked many hundreds of stamps the last three years, and always kept them in the drying book for 24 hours minimum. This time, I just got "ants in my pants" to get them loaded in an album. I will go back to my old patient ways.........

Do all nationality behave in the same way?

In my experience it doesn't make a difference what country. They come out better the longer I leave them in. The one thing I pay particular attention to is the self adhesives. They sometimes are a bit sticky on the front of the stamp so I let them dry, rub a bit of baby powder on them and then put them in the drying book.

Dianne

There was a question above if all nationalities behave the same way. I collect Switzerland used. The Swiss issue some of their stamps water activated, and some self stick. Since several years back they outsource their printing to mostly three different printers, one each in France, Germany and the Netherlands. With very few exceptions none of these self stick stamps give me any trouble as long as I soak them not too long!

Peter

"Do all nationality behave in the same way?"............
Ummm, I thought that was in reference to us stamp collectors - and not the stamps themselves....

Remember also that SOME stamps may have coatings or printing on the gummed side, or metal foilish additions that make it detrimental to soaking. When not sure on some non-common, or interestingly designed/feeling stamps research before soaking. plus new self adhesives I have found are notorious for unsoakability to remove from cover so I just cut them square and put in the album when I collect them.

I use a drying book and I find if I really dab them down well with a towel before turning the page, they come out dry enough with a quick overnight (~12 hours or so) drying, even less when in a pinch. I then put them in glassine envelopes and press them under 2-3 Scott Catalogs for another day or two. I will often soak a pound of stamps in a weekend with two drying books. After removing the stamps, I put the books in front of a fan for a bit to get rid of any residual dampness in the blotter paper before filling them right back up again.

We only use a drying book for 24hrs.

Then let them dry for a couple of hours or as they start to curl.

The stamps are then put into half sheet hinge less stamp page and pressed under many stock books for a couple of days.

They all come out as flat and as straight as!

Hot (just shy of boiling) water. Pat down lightly with paper towel upon removal. Into the Desert Magic drying book. 40 pounds of weights on top. 2-3 days. Done.