Removing Stamps From The Paper

When did Bestine disappear here in Canada at Michaels? Last time I went a few months ago it was still on the shelf.

Have always used lighter fluid to remove the Australia self adhesives $1 and onward issue from paper.

But you have to neutralise the gum with talc power like you said Rod that does not smell/scented. You need to cook the talc for 2hrs to get rid of the scent. You want to be able to open your window though. It also stays very hot for a long time.

The biggest issue with taking these stamp off paper is future possible talc power damage. It takes such a small amount to stop stickiness'. Have seen talc used for 30 years + heaped on top of album pages. It sets like grease.

Talc should be completely unnecessary if the adhesive removal is complete. Also, introducing a fine gritty powder seems to be adding a different problem in the future.

Can you please share the location of the place you bought it?

Apparently there were some compliance issues with the product and the manufacturers recalled and pulled out from Canada.

https://coinstampsupplies.com/produ...tain-stamps/

There were many other articles as well.

Hi Sid,
For self-adhesive stamps (and the like) I use immersion in a tray of freshly boiled water. Haven't had any colour runs etc. to date.

Thanks John
that settles it then, just continue cutting around Self Adhesives.

Not sure how your time expended in soaking, is worth it.

Hi John interesting.

Have trialed many ways with the impossible self adhesives stamp on paper removals. Yes warm/hot water works and no stickiness but you destroy a lot of stamps trying.

Using shelllitre, bestine, lighter fluid will remove bulk gum. No matter if you scrap the gum it will never get all the gum off all stamps. Lots come up from people trying to sell these S/A stamps off paper in such a mess. 1 stamp with a bit of gum and it stick to others, into a huge stuck together mess.

My issue for long term is not so much with the talc but with what happens to these new prints that seem to be stuck on top of the paper and not into the paper so it cracks on some issues I have exposed to sunlight. This worries me for long term storage.
Have a person that will take S/A off paper for me, for stamps. But my take is also to keep S/A stamps on paper. There are a few reasons 1 is it proves it is truly postally used being still on paper. 2nd reason is there is a chance that someone will figure out how to totally remove the gum with no stickiness left we just have to wait a bit. Not going to hurt anything with them still on paper.

Readers please note...
There is a LOT of questionable stewardship and questionable archival practices noted in this thread. Readers should consider many of them as experiments (which is not surprising in that self-adhesives are difficult, vary across time and country, and information is scarce).
Don

Australia under $1 issues areas S/A still come off in water. The 55c era being the worse.

Today I soaked a bunch of US stamps I received in the mail over the last few months. I used hot tap water. To my amazement many of the 2021 and 2022 stamps came off the paper fairly well. They left some residue in the middle but I don't mind that. As long as the edges and perforations are clear and don't show paper underneath, I'm happy.

As for the rest, I'm happy to leave them on the paper and cut closely around the edges.

Kiwi Collector,
I tried your boiled water technique. It worked ok but it ruined my US Spooky Silhouettes Halloween stamps (#5420-23). I don't think boiling hot water is good for stamps with foil or special effects.

I know, I know, I should have separated them out to begin with, but I just grab a bunch and threw them in. We live and we learn, right.

One rule of thumb is likely don't expose your stamps to temperature conditions that they would not experience in real life. A stamp might sit in minus 50 somewhere in Alaska or 130 in the desert but it would never reach boiling temperature.

Good morning all. Further to the discussions above, does anyone have suggestions for removing stamps (actually cinderellas in this case) from a stockbook? I recently picked up an old Schaubek stockbook with a decent selection of mid-period stamps and many old cinderellas. I have removed all the stamps but now find that the cinderellas are mostly stuck in the book! They must have been subject to damp and I can only assume the seller simply added the stamps around the cindies! Any way of getting the items out without totally destroying the stockbook? Suggestions very welcome.
Regards
DavidR

My experience,
Destroy the Stockbook, there is no other way.

If moisture has adhered the stamp to the stock book page, under the glassine leaves in rows, there is no other way.
You have to bite the bullet.

Hi rod, must admit this was my thought too. Shame, as it's a decent stockbook for it's age and would have been useful. Job for next week!
Regards
DavidR