Soaking Off Stamps And What To Do About Old Glue Residue

When I soak a stamp to get the old paper off, particularly old stamps, there is often a gummy residue on the back, feels kind of like vaseline
So, now I read that you should have two bowls of water, one 1 to get the paper off and 2 two to get the glue off. But I have turned them face down and let them dry with the glue on- otherwise, they may stick to what I lay them on. Well, I want to know if I should use a second wash and why?

Hi Louise,
Do not soak large amounts of stamps in one bowl without frequent water changes; The water becomes saturated with all the gum and other nasty stuff. One bowl is ok if you keep the water clean. Two bowls may be needed if you allow the water in the first bowl to get nasty.

Please do not 'cross-post (post same question in two different threads), it is against the rules. Cross-posting makes a mess of other folks searching for topics at a later date. I will remove your other post and leave this one.
Thanks,
Don

Louise wrote...

The stuff all over them is the rinsed off gum from the other stamps that has gone into the water. Clean water is the key, whether it is one bowl or two.
Don

On non-US stamps? Some countries are harder to soak than others.

But I have turned them face down and let them dry with the glue on- otherwise, they may stick to what I lay them on. Well, I want to know if I should use a second wash and why?

Soaking 101.
Only soak / wash those you intend to mount.
(Why spend time on the others?)

Early British commonweath issues, KE7 (1902) onwards, can have really thick gum arabic, that may have turns a ghastly brown.
Soaking too long is detrimental, I have found the only way to successfully remove the bloated gum, is to (gently) scrape it off by placing the stamp on my fleshy part of my palm, using a paring knife, when the gum is soft.

Try using a "sandwich" paper / freezer bag / stamp face up/ paper
and place in a old book for 4 days.
Guaranteed not to stick, and come out flat as a Halibut.

Replace water when ever discoloured, sometimes 2 or 3 times.

I've used a different method with removing glue/gum residue. With the stamp face up on a tea towel I gently drag the stamp over the tea towel and the residue gets left on the tea towel.

As rod222 says only soak off the stamps you will keep. I also try to avoid soaking stamps on coloured envelopes. I find many of the yellow brown business envelopes of North America stain the water and also modern red envelopes used on greetings cards.

Hello and to all who responded I thank you for your great ideas. I am sorry that I double posted and I will be careful of that in the future.
The stamp that was really fatted out was a 5 cent Panama republic stamp that is powder blue with a mustachioed man pictured on it.
I rarely find Republic of Panama stamps - maybe it is just me- but I wanted to mount it so I soaked it off some brown paper.
I have found this on others but this was a lot. The purpose, to me, is to get them off the paper unless it is a post-mark or envelope that I want to save.
The sandwich bag is a good idea. I have lots of them I will use those.

Probably Sc#200
Don't recall Panama having thick gum.

1960's-1980's Romania is the biggest problem, some of their mucilage defies movement. One of the very rare stamps issues that I actually throw away.

It is possible that it may have been reused and stuck back on with some other consumer brand glue.

Nice thought, have encountered a few in my time.