Removing Hinge Stains

Does anybody have a secret formula to remove old hinge stains like below:



Soaking a lot of times doesn't seem to work.

It doesn't make a difference. Stain or not if your stamp is used the value is the same. Daniel

If water does not impact it then I question is it a hinge stain, if a correct hinge was used. It may be some other type of stain possibly associated with an incorrect hinge such as tape. In that case, it may require special chemicals to remove it that may even damage the stamp in the process. It does not look like a repair.

But timbres667 is right, for a used stamp it does not really matter, assuming it does not stain through to the front. If it is a very valuable stamp and the stain shows to the front, you may consider a professional restoration service. You can search repair and restoration and get some info on that topic in SCF.

IF YOU DONT MIND, WHAT STAMP IS IT. It looks like a revenue. Excuse the all caps.

If the stamp ink does not run a blob of straight dish washing detergent for 15min and gently rubbing it into the strain with the stamp just covered with water.

A weak bleach solution will move it but the risk to the stamp.....

All procedures after normal soaking to remove the stain are going to be very risky.

Sometimes using these risky stain removal methods can shrink the gum and crunch up the stamp as the gum shrinks but the paper does not.

I would leave the stain.

Okay, I'll bite. We have had an extensive discussion of restoration services here: https://goscf.com/t/43694&SearchTer...tion,service

How does this question differ from any of the points made in the restoration services discussion? Removing hinge stains is just another "restoration" service, or am I missing something here? Altering a stamp's appearance to be something else ... or just prettying it up with no harm intended?

My comment re: thread mentioned above.

I can't see anything wrong with removing hinge stains. You're not changing the catalog#, removing a cancel, adding or removing perfs, etc. If you have used a stamp that's really dirty or has several hinge remnants, for example, there is nothing wrong with a bath to make it look better.

It appears to me that the overall discovered area is larger than the darker stain near the lower portion of the stamp. Are you concerned about removing all of it or just the really noticeable part?

Unless you are planning to display the stamp face down, I would leave it as is. Any process that changes coloration on this side also involves risk to the other side of the paper.

Those who say it does not matter are only thinking of price, I fear. However, you have a nice clear example of silk/chameleon paper on a revenue, and if exhibiting might want to show the back side so the special character of the paper can be seen. Getting out a nasty hinging stain matters then.

If the gum in the stain is still water soluble, then soaking the stamp and lightly "scrubbing" the spot with a sable artists brush while still wet may help reduce the severe appearance. Don't use a stiff bristle brush or you may rough up the surface or worse. Dipping the brush in a very dilute solution of hydrogen peroxide and applying it to a stamp that is still saturated from soaking may also lessen the severity of the stain, but you will need to experiment with the dilution strength first.

If showing the reverse is the goal I would not recommend that you try to do more than this yourself. There are too many ways to fail. If the appearance is what matters, as for an exhibit, then irrespective of the value of the stamp I would
a. search for a more suitable alternative example or
b. failing at "a" I would send it out for restoration to have the stain removed.

oldguy - sometimes appearance matters, and when it does then removing the ravages of time without altering the actual stamp as issued seems to be a proper course. If the offending substance has a long term danger potential, such as deeper staining over time, I would not hesitate to attempt having it restored to the condition it was in before someone else altered it.

I just finished emptying an old album. Everything pre-1930 was stuck in with home made hinges or tape and some had bad marks. If it is not particularly valuable, say, a dollar or two, I will either ditch it if it is really bad or try to save it. If a stamp is valuable, but fairly worthless in its current state, I have nothing to lose so I treat it.

My way of doing this is to lay it face down and spray it with barbecue cleaner, leave it under the foam for a minute or two then give it a good rinse with boiling water. I've saved quite a lot like that from this old lot.

jarmstrong47,

Yikes! barbecue cleaner sounds really strong. Have you tried "Pure Citrus"? They have it at Home Depot and I've seen it in large grocery stores.

Jack Kelley

While I have never tried any of these products, they are stamp care products by Lindner: http://www.lindner-usa.com/pg5_engl...npflege.html

Here's the front. The only reason I brought this up, is because of semantics. I just think it makes for a better presentation, but everybody is certainly correct. I don't plan on mounting it face down, so it probably was a useless question anyway.

This is not a hinge stain, it is sepia toning from the vignette and cannot be removed. The vignettes were printed with chemical sensitive ink to prevent cleaning and reuse and those inks are now about 146 years old. It is what it is, and does not affect the value.

A very nice example, by the way.

Thanks for setting me straight.

Thought it was worth paying 1/2 catalog. A lot of second and third issues I find touch the perfs on at least one side.