Plastic Transfer From Desert Magic Drying Book?

Rod222.

Perhaps you are recalling discussion re use of 150 proof Everclear or 90 proof Absolut
as soaking method for "recent" US issues.

Have not personally used. Too expensive for my tastes.

Calstamp

Hi

When I soak stamps I use a plastic shoe storage box. I fill the box with warm water and let a little warm tap water "dribble" into the box. I then put in the stamps. Any debris is washed over the edge by virtue of the dribbling water overfilling the box. The only thing left are pieces of paper that the stamps were on and the stamps. I then put the stamps in a drying book.

When the stamps are dry, I inspect the backs. If shiny, they go back to soaking. I prefer using the "finger rubbing" when they have soaked a while. Rod's knife scraping scares the devil out of me. Make sure no paper debris goes down the drain. A piece of wire mesh over the drain solves that problem.

At one time I took a shoe box and made holes at the top to let the water drain. That was overkill. Dribbling over the edge works just fine.

Similar to the box I use:
https://www.amazon.com/STERILITE-St...8476&sr=8-54

Jerry B

Jerry, you have to be here, to see it.
The Gum Arabic, soaked in cold water 10-15 mins, and the gum has a consistency of Mayonaise.
Scraping it is like having a close shave, there is no resistance,
just a smooth brush of the knife edge, and all that brown gummy muck, slides onto the blade.

The big trick is to have it on the fleshy base or the thumb,
won't work anywhere else, needs a bit of "give"




I have kept this in my folder "soaking"
I don't have much need for soaking anymore, the gum arabic is disappearing, more need for "bestine" for the self adhesives.

Interesting discussion - I think the knife scraping might be a bit much for me!

Regarding water temp: I almost always use room temperature water *unless* I'm transferring stamps from a collection where foxing has been present, either on the stamps (in which case I discard, if low value) or elsewhere on the album pages, etc. In this case, I prefer to use hot water to hopefully render inert/kill off any spores that might be lurking. There is a risk that inks could run, but that's one I'm willing to take; personally, I think it's a more acceptable risk than potentially introducing mold into my collection.