I Tried Revenuecollector's Stamp Cleaning Technique

A while back, revenuecollector posted before and after images of a really mucked up stamp that he had cleaned up and transformed into a presentable copy. This was his cleaning method:




I just finished trying it on one of the stamps that I acquired at a show last weekend. I really like the stamp, as did others when I posted it earlier, but it seemed dingy and soiled to me. Well, the experiment worked, I think. The results aren't as dramatic as revenuecollector's, but the stamp definitely looks better to me.

Before:



After:

Yep, I can definitely tell the difference. Does look better.

Great job, a 150 or so years between baths.

Wow impressive and I made a note! I see differences at top w light soiling removed, overall the cancel is more nicely contrasted, and importantly the pigment is not faded or lightened so no pigment loss. And I would think the reddish pigment would be more susceptible to loss. I will look for the drying book mentioned and try it myself!

Hahaha! You guys are perfectionists. I can't really see much of a difference at all.

(Maybe I need to change my monitor settings?)

As for the soap used, is there a product that is better than others? I would assume old-fashioned Ivory soap would be best?

The upper quarter of the stamp is much cleaner. Any MILD dishwashing liquid works. You only need a drop. One can also soak it for a while and use a small artist's paintbrush to remove dirt.

Thanks, rev!

You should also be sure that there is nothing added to your tap water. I cleaned a cover a while back and found to my horror that the city water supply had chlorine added, the inks on the cover are now faded. I use nothing but distilled water now.
Also be sure there is nothing add to the soap, even Ivory adds scent.

Had another candidate for cleaning and got decent results.

Distilled water, definitely. Dawn is also recommended as a soap. Don't forget to try dry cleaning the stamp in watermark fluid first.

Can you make small wrinkles disappear doing this?

Zenzy,
You can 'press' out a crease and make it look a bit better but once creased, the stamp will always show signs of this kind of fault.
Don

You can indeed almost make a crease disappear by pressing it. Once there is a crease though, some of the paper fibers have been broken, and a dip in watermark fluid will immediately reveal them. Now, if it's just a "bend", sometimes this can fix it.