Would You Trust Using 30 Year Old Sealed Hawid Mounts?

I have a lot of unopened Hawid mounts, and most of them have price tags that are under 5 dollars. I just bought a new cutter and was going to use them with some of my very best stamps. Am I a fool to trust them? The back of the packaging is just paper, so they could have absorbed anything over the decades. They are in a shoe box that does have a slight odour. I do not want to do anything I regret...

I would used them.

I have some Hawid mounts that I bought while I was at university more than 45 years ago in sizes that I rarely use and they appear and mount as well today as they did almost 5 decades ago. Yes the price tag compared to today's prices is a real shock.

They range from 27 or 27.5 up to over 40mm, and look just fine. I will open one and see if any traces of toning are on the backing sheet. My worst fear is infecting stamps now and seeing nasty brown spots in 5 years.

I would use them. I have several different sizes of Hawid and Showgard from the mid-80s that I still use to mount stamps in my collection.

Scott

I would do a simple color test.

Hold them up to natural light and look at the color. Toss the yellowing ones and keep the clear ones.

I travel (traveled) frequently and always try and stop in any stamp store in any city I happen to be in. I always ask about Hawids as they aren't as popular and sometimes there is a box of them from an old collection hidden in the back. I have been able to get bunches of opened packages this way. Sometimes they are good, sometimes they are not.

Use a clear one to compare side by side - they are usually pretty obvious. The old ones sometimes have cracked gum on the back, but I have found that doesn't seem to interfere in any way. They still stick!

Welcome ,Casey. They should be fine unless that odor is cat related. I am still using some Showguard and Scott mounts that are over 30 years old and they do just fine.

I guess I will take a shot and use them. Some say they are made in W. Germany, but most say P. Liechtenstein. If I come across any that are not up to par I will toss them. I've got over 20 packs. These came in a big lot I bought at least 10 years. Thanks for your input everyone.

I opened two packs and the gum looks like gator boots. Normal to shrink and crack?

Are they black or clear mounts?

StateRevs mentioned tossing the yellow ones, so if they are clear mounts that are yellowing I agree. However, if they are black mounts and have some gator cracking in the gum I wouldn't be too worried. These are not Crystal Mounts that caused the brown spot damage to a lot of collections. You also have to remember that the gum on the Hawid mounts does not touch the stamps and the clear and black parts of the mount that hold the stamp are the same whether you mounted the stamp 40 years ago or today. I have not seen any form of damage on stamps that I mounted with Hawid mounts 50 years ago.

As long as that odor is not pungent old tobacco tar and smoke from cigarettes, or cat related they should be good to go. I also have used ones 20 to 30 years old that have that cracked gum and have not had any issue with them.

Thanks for taking the time everyone. They are all black, no clear. Now, I also have a few Scotts T-mounts that I did not mention previously. They are in a resealable plastic shell and mostly used up. Only a few left so I didn't think it was worth talking about. I can't see any yellowing, and the smell is mild like you'd expect in any large collection that comes in a tote.

Apologies! I only use clear and forget about the black ones.

I am not sure what old black mounts look like when they age and "yellow".

I have had no issues with the gum that gets the gator cracked look. I use a Q-tip lightly dipped in water to wet just the bottom of the mounts and have had no issue at all with these older mounts.

In fact (knock on wood) I have never had a Hawid mount fall off the page.