How Do You Affix Mounts To Your Album Pages?

This may sound like a silly question but how do you affix mounts to your album pages. For instance:

1. How do you moisten the adhesive? Do you lick the back of the mount, use a moist sponge or perhaps a q-tip?

2. Where do you apply the moisture? For split back mounts you obviously moisten the top half of the back but do you moisten the whole top half or just a small area at the very top. What about open top mounts - do you moisten the entire back, just the top, just the bottom, or perhaps a line down the middle?

3. Do you typically insert the stamp into the mount before or after affixing the mount to the page?

I ask because I just got back into collecting after a break of 20 years or so. Whereas in the past I only had mounts for stamps that were actually present in the collection, I now intend to create my own hingeless albums using either Steiner pages or Reproduction Scott Brown pages and pre-install mounts for every space. That is going to be a lot of mounts so I want to determine what is the "best practice".

Anghus: the only "silly (or dumb) question" is the one that is not asked. You should prepare for a whole range of answers which will allow you to pick & choose.

When I use mounts, I lick the adhesive; just as I do with hinges; but use the least amount of moisture possible. You don't want to be a "slobber king." Too much moisture makes it hard to peel off even Dennison hinges or successfully remove mounts without damaging something. I use mostly split back mounts and lick just a small part of the top portion. I insert the stamp first into the strip and then carefully cut the mount, with stamp inside, from the remainder of the strip. This allows me to get the correct size. Cutting a mount with the stamp inside will be "heresy" for some, but I've yet to damage a stamp in 40+ years of using mounts in this way.

You didn't say what your collecting area(s) is. Is everything in your collection NH? Otherwise, may I ask why use mounts to attach the very cheap stamps?

You can also use a dab of glue-stick, which avoids moisture. A tiny bit should hold the mount in place - too much spit or glue makes the mount impossible to remove, should you wish to do so.

I found a q-tip to be the best way for me to apply a small amount of moisture. I have a dampened sponge and then touch the q-tip to pick up moisture. I have tried other small sponge dabbers (like used to apply make up) but they picked up too much moisture.

Lick'em and stick'em for 50 years

SIDE NOTE: I have found that some Showgard mounts pop off the Scott Specialty Pages over time.

I have never had this problem with Scott mounts.

I employ our member "Postmaster GS" advice.
I use double sided tape, cut a piece 2-3mm wide (takes practice)
and your done, it's forgiven if you misplace the mount, just lift off and re mount.

I find Scotch tape or similar tapes, discolor, stain, dries up and disintegrates over time.

We shall wait and see...........
3 years, so far, no discolouration to Album Page.

Product Specs
Scotch Double sided Tape (Photo safe)

Details.

Scotch® Double Sided Office Tape is coated with permanent adhesive on both sides. A no-mess alternative to glue for light duty attaching and mounting tasks. This tape has no liner to deal with, is long-aging and won't dry out or yellow. It comes in a handy, refillable dispenser for quick, easy and portable use.

Climber Steve, you ask a very good question about using mounts for everything. I collect pretty much world wide, but only for the classic period, 1840-1940. For the majority of countries I will be using hinges on Vintage Scott Brown pages. But I have a couple dozen or so countries that I "specialize" in and had been looking at commercial hingeless albums for those. I like the hingeless approach for a specialized collection because it makes it much easier to remove the stamps for study and to swap out for better copies. Also, my specialized collections tend to have a lot more high catalog value stamps which I want to protect. Anyway, I decided the commercial hingeless albums were too expensive and want to try making my own. Of course I may change my mind after affixing several thousand mounts to my pages!

GeoffHa, using a glue stick sounds interesting. Do the mounts stay on the page long term? I would think they might come loose after a few years of turning pages... Might just try it though.

Angore and Timm, in the past I was strictly in the lick and stick camp but back then I was mounting stamps one at a time. Measuring the stamp, cutting the mount, affixing the mount and inserting the stamp took a significant amount of time and I would usually only do a few dozen stamps at a time so I had plenty of saliva. What I am planning now is to precut all the mounts for a county and then affix them to the pages all in one go. I just don't think I have enough spit! So the q-tip and damp sponge approach is very appealing.

Rod222, I don't think I would be comfortable with tape on my pages but I may give it a try just to see.

Thank you all for your input! Hopefully some more folks will chime in with their favorite approaches.

If you're going to try the double-sided tape method mentioned by Rod, you'll need to look for Scotch Removable Scrapbooking Tape. It's the one that's removable and acid free.

In the U.S., it looks like this:


You might still find some with the old packaging like this:


Not these, which are permanent and/or not acid free:


I've been using it for almost 20 years. Never noticed any discoloration, damage to stamps, or mounts falling off the page. The big benefit is that with the removable tape, you can safely remove the mount and reposition it, or re-use it on another page -- at least for a couple years. That's handy if you're like me, constantly having to reprint custom pages. After a couple years, it does get a little more difficult to get them off the page without damaging the page.

I actually hinge the mounts to my album pages (I use blank Scott specialty pages), because I am always rearranging the contents of the pages. That way both the mount and the page are reusable.

Don't do anything you are not comfortable with.
I tried it, I love it, has made my mounting so much more enjoyable.
I only use tiny 2-3mm pieces, albeit, I do use page protectors.

As Postmaster mentioned...Australia
This page does not state "Acid Free"

Archiving
Acid-free Product : Yes


Mending Tape for photo and documents.

Mounting tape for photos and documents. This totally acid-free - Ph above 7.0, conforms to ASTMD-4236, double-stick tape is perfect for mounting pictures, documents and memorabilia. Independently laboratory-tested to be safe for use on photos - in accordance with ISO Standard 18916.

I use this:

https://www.amazon.com/Tombow-Perma...p/B000XAHF7S

Run a strip inside the box on the paper and then press the mount down onto the page.

anghus wrote: "my specialized collections tend to have a lot more high catalog value stamps that I want to protect......."

Same here. My cut-off is to use mounts for stamps that catalog at least $50 in Scott. I do make an exception if a stamp is printed on very thin paper.

Thanks Rod and apastuszak those are the exact products I was talking about.

Dianne

apastuszak, I obviously have not been paying attention to advances in the crafting world. I had never seen the Tombow adhesive rollers before. I don't get out of the house much but perhaps it is time to make a visit to Michaels or Hobby Lobby and see what else is available.

I really like the type of dispenser that you use. Question however: the package says "permanent" but can you easily remove the mounts from the page if desired? And the opposite question: do the mounts stay on the page really well, ie do they ever fall off?