Does anyone remember the product that will help remove modern US used stamps from envelopes? Also, is there a listing of which numbers can be safely soaked and which require dynamite? I'm sure this has been covered in the past in Linn's and in the APS Journal but I can't seem remember exactly where - I do remember something about talcum powder. I'm so glad that Canadian stamps don't have this problem.
When ya gotta put talcum powder on baby's butt it's time to sell that collection or burn it....more fun and collect from a country that has better stamps, and is more collector friendly!!
Talcum powder and stamps is just about as stupid as tape and stamps, or eating cashews while working on stamps, or greasy bacon. Ever seen what happens when you put dusty stamps in a clear-pocket stock page to scan it? DAAAAAA!!!! You got little dusty flecks all over the plastic scanner bed and the stock pages. These are all made from plastic. What does a plastic scanner bed and stock pages have in common? DAAAAAA!! Static electricity!! What does static electricity do to fine dust?? It will attract it into the clear pockets and make it impossible to remove.
I once scanned some stamps that had a very powdery dusty dried-out gum. I didn't notice this until after trying to remove the stamps from the pockets. The dusty gum would not clean up or come out. The only way to avoid fuzzy scans of dust flecks, was to take the two pockets of this 7-pocket stock page, and tear them off to prevent re-use. Lessen learned, keep dust away from optical stuff like scanners and cameras and such.
They who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety. -Benjamin Franklin 26 Oct 2014 07:20:51am
re: Used Self Adhesives
CLICK HERE to read the article from the American Philatelist (APS journal) of October 2010 on this subject.
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"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. -Edmund Burke"
Thanks!! The article helps - but it seems like I'll be spending lots of time playing with air freshener. I'll have to air out before going out in public.
They who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety. -Benjamin Franklin 27 Oct 2014 05:55:58pm
re: Used Self Adhesives
"...but it seems like I'll be spending lots of time playing with air freshener. I'll have to air out before going out in public."
Yeah, but folk will come from miles around to sniff your collection.
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"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. -Edmund Burke"
Ahhhh stamps that smell like a Florida orange grove! Don't ruin it by using perfumey baby powder. I have a perfume allergy and I can't get anywhere near those. Try cornstarch - it is lots cheaper and it's edible in case of a famine. LOL
Watch out after you remove them - the backs can still be tacky and if you stack them on another stamp they will adhere and damage the other stamp. Just FYI.
Doesn't it make you nostalgic for the days of good old water activated gum? SIGH!!
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"Just one more small collection, hun, really! LoL "
"Try cornstarch - it is lots cheaper and it's edible in case of a famine."
Also mice and insects love the cornstarch too. Especially tiny bugs that can crawl into even the smallest of places. So it's not wise to use an edible product on your stamps.
If you use powder, just take a paper towel and gently wipe off the stamp back and front. I have been using the Pure Citrus for months now and it's great.
Also to avoid spraying it all over or using an excess amount. Spray some into a small container and use a cotton swab and gentley wipe on. The Pure Citrus does not evaporate for days in the container, so just use a little bit at a time unles you have a place to safely leave the container sit.
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"Stamp collectors don't go crazy, they just become unhinged."
The self adhesive stamps can be removed from the backing paper if the paper is not the shiny kind often seen on postcards. Then the self adhesive can additionally completely be removed as well, leaving a perfect version, not sticky on the back at all. Strange noxious chemicals are not needed. I actually detect no odor at all when working with such stamps. The method is too involved to explain here, bit I am happy to explain on the telephone to anyone interested. This method works 99% of the time. A handful of exceptions exist.
I don't like my used stamps on paper. I don't like the "Hoover Dam" self adhesives.
I recently got some mint self adhesives on album pages where they have all have the backing(which of course they have to have to be mint singles, now). Anyway ,I used tehm for postage Actually I prefer used stamps, anyway. I used them for postage. If I leave them on paper that means the postal service has won. If I have to use lighter fluid & baby powder to get them off of paper and have a nice clean stamp, so be it.( Someone here has mentioned a method of using water & dishwashing liquid but haven't tried it yet). Ain't crazy about it, but I like a nice clean stamp. I'm PO'ed with the PO anyway. I have noticed a drop, recently, in the use of black markers to cancel stamps or is it my imagination.
I just recently got an envelope where the stamps were all canceled with an ink pen, though.
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" I have a burning love for stamps. Lord A'mighty ,feel my temperature risin'! "