Australia 2017 Dragonflies Issue Of 5 Stamps

This issue is just coming through our kiloware.

The self adhesive issues have security cuts in them.

2 facing right"<" at one end & 2 more facing the other end left ">" With 4 more vertical slits 2 along top and 2 along the bottom.

The Dragonflies sheet stamps do not have this safety feature.

Have been able to get these S/A stamps off paper and will hold their flat shape but good luck when trying. If you can try getting some priority labels off paper to pratice with 1st.

Sorry Rod missed that post.

But can get them off in better shape than your example and in water no worries.

To get all the new Australia $1 issues off paper you must use cold water on them for anywhere around 20 minute for kick off till about 50 min max in water.

Many of the prints still peel and crack and in our opinion is the hardest issue with these issues to over come.

Well, you're a better man than I, Gunga Din.

I am having a really tough time with modern self adhesives, Using my normal "White Spirits" I am finding particles of gum remaining, and will "attach" to any other stamps in the vicinity. Horrible goo.

These 2012 issues came off well in water, (10 mins) but the still were gum tacky, afterwards. I like my self adhesives to be utterly clean before I mount.

I ended up wiping the backs with talcum powder, something I don't like doing.

The Australian Stamp Bulletin, gives one, chapter and verse about individual issues, It would be nice if they added a preferable release agent.
or, are we supposed to "close clip" modern issues? (Ugh)

Hi Rod

Can feel for your situation. We only use water and concentrated dish washing liquid. My wife is taking an average of 50 drying books per month off paper. This includes all Australia denominations. She is very quick at taking stamps off paper way faster than I have ever done.

With the new $1 issues she uses cold water as described in this thread.

But all other issues are soaked in hot water straight from the tap. I bundle all her work and a very small % have any S/A gum left on them. The stamps are not damaged in any way.

3 tea spoon of detergent to a standard mix master bowl. She never starts taking them off paper for 1st 20 mins and no longer than 50 mins in water all up.

The stamp soaker that I met had soaked stamps into bundleware for most of his life would always use a small amount of bleach in the water he put the stamps into after taking them off paper to stop very small amount of gum sticking his bundles together. I sold heaps of his stamps from bundles and never came across any left over gum in his bundles at all. My wife does the same but uses detergent instead of bleach. Because of stamp cleaners we will not use bleach as the smell lingers.

Right, John. Thank you.
I'll give your advice a whirl...........

PS: I sent some freebies to an SCF member in Norway, this morning,
I asked the Postmistress to use stamps, and to cancel.

She used a 2017 $3 issue, with Die cut "re-use" prevention, as she stuck the stamp on the envelope, the "V" shape die cut remained stuck to her finger
leaving a gaping hole in the stamp.

These will be very awkward to soak I should imagine.

Sheet stamps are the go. I collect S/A interpost stamps mint and used so that is bad news for me.

In the kiloware I am finding that triangles of stamps missing while still on paper. So a number of people are finding triangles of stamps on their fingers after applying the stamp to an envelope.

Surprisingly we are not loosing to many of the security die cut stamps. But the skill level for these stamps is high. We are no longer new to these die cuts. We are over the hump so to speak. We did loose a lot of new $1 stamps at 1st. Any warm water or hotter destroys the print of most of the new $1 issues simple as that.

With the $1 issues they are sorted and soaked to sets and my wife's speed is increasing at taking these stamps off paper.

John - thanks for last night's tip about soaking the self-adhesives with security cuts. I've had a recent $1 Shipwreck s/a waiting to be soaked, so I soaked it in cold water for about 40 minutes. The paper peeled off very easily. I just needed to be careful not to remove the corner of the stamp near the slit. Perfect!

So happy you have got over the die cuts.

We can work with them. Great feedback.

Thank you so much for the kind words.

It means a lot to me.

John.
Test Results:
Followed your advice, the two pictured released beautifully after 15 minutes,
felt tacky whilst damp, when dried, clean as a whistle.

The concession stamp shows signs of stress damage, not due to soaking, but probably from poor handling (from a mission mixture)

Brave Ulysses.........This stamp did not release at all, possibly the paper to which it was adhered? taken from the water after 50 mins.

Hi Rod

Thank you for the feedback.

Can totally guarantee this method of "stamps off paper" is a long proven method that my wife uses every day she soaks.

We find that stamps of all issues will not come off paper because we believe they are glue stick examples.

This is a very common issue.

With all issues other than the $1 releases we use hot water from the tap. But read the exception below on coloured paper.

With any colour other than white we use cold water and a desert spoon of salt per large bowl of water. We do not get all coloured paper stamps as keepers. The strong coloured paper that has the same colour both sides we soak 12 stamps at a time using a desert bowl charged with salt and cold water and watch and remove the stamps as soon as the colour starts coming away. We get about 75% of these stamp off paper in great condition.

The concession stamp(roo) is an example of hot water damage.

A very small % will do this.

The 45c butterfly has a break in the stamps surface which makes it look more like a glue stick example to me.