Removing An Antique Cover Glued In A Scrapbook

Any idea what is the best way to do this? Usually soaking will be a good try, but it also remove stamps from the cover. Any product exists particularly for this part od the job?

Maybe to try to put in a Zippo fluid? It doesn't have a water so will not to harm gum on the stamps.

Anybody have an experience with some other product?

A photo would help.

but it the stamps are stuck to the cover, the glue is already damaged.

Yes, a photo or two would help. How or if the cover can be removed all depends upon the type of glue/adhesive used which in turn can depend upon the era when the cover was attached.

Thank you for your replies! I am most interested to remove the Hong Kong stationery card which is glued on the page. It was really heavily glued allover.

Other 2 postcards are also glued on the smaller pieces (seems to be "cut to shape' with the cardboards).

Honestly, I doubt you can salvage these if the goal is to completely free them from their backing. A shame that anyone would weld them to the pages like that, especially if it was a collector.

Just trim the back close and enjoy them as they are. Also without knowing what glue was used, you can't tell what to use to break the bond. But anything is likely to damage the stamp side of the card. If that does not occur, the glued side will still be a damaged mess.

Any product that dissolves glue will almost definitely soak through the paper you're trying to salvage and will mostly likely damage ink and maybe the stamp(s). I'd just cut around them to remove them and mount them that way. Their reverse sides are already damaged, so I think that's the best you can do.

As you say, water will ruin these. Heat sometimes softens glue but it will also affect the paper badly. Just remove them carefully and save them "as is".

Have a professional remove the page w/ Hong Kong / Johore you show. Maybe Nancy Poli.

It is very likely that attempting to dissolve the glue would cause the black material to migrate or bleed into the postcard itself, potentially causing irreversible damage. For that reason, direct solvent application carries a significant risk.

In situations like this, the method that is sometimes used is a controlled, incremental removal of the backing material. The backing is reduced little by little, thinning it gradually. If done carefully and slowly enough, this process can eventually leave only the glue layer remaining. At that stage, small, localized tests can be conducted using different solvents to determine whether any will affect the adhesive without disturbing the postcard.

However, because the postcards are made of paper, the adhesive will almost certainly have penetrated into the fibers. Even if the glue can be softened or reduced, some degree of staining or residue should be expected to remain visible. For this reason, any intervention should be approached conservatively, with the understanding that complete removal without visual impact is unlikely.

Many thanks for all replies and suggestions! I would like to get the best at least from the Hong Kong stationary, because it was sent from Chefoo (British PO) on my birthday (JY 8), so I like it very, very much and I just can't look it this way. I am familiar that the back cannot be without traces, but everything is better than stay this way. @alub - you have described a process in detail, and that is sounds like a job for a professional, just as @Richard Frajola suggested. I am from Croatia Europe and not close Nancy Poli, but in my city there are a couple of restorers/conservators... maybe I could ask them. Or to Nancy Poli can be send by a Post Office? Johore card is not interesting as Hong Kong/ Chefoo for me... I really that is my birthday on the postmark.