How to Soak Stamps and NOT Annoy Your Spouse

[@joannewolfe5688]

Wow! Mass soaking! I go the individual route.

[@claire2470]

. . .and now, the spouse watched this and saw what you did ahahaaaa😅🤗. . . THANK YOU for this video Sir. . . i just renewed my stamp collecting hobby this month. I started when i was 14 or 15, and i didn't know this technique so i just cut the stamp from the envelope and thats it. . .now that i'm 42 and with the readily available videos of philately, i am learning a lot from all of you co-stamp hobbyist. . .just waiting for my stamp tweezers and will be starting to do this!🤗

[@silkontheweb]

Enjoy!

[@jostret]

Thanks fo sharing. I have an old album or two to “strip”. I recently bought a stamp drying book. I’ll see how that goes.

[@DaveShafer2]

I put my stamps on paper grocery bags to dry. The paper is not real absorbent, but it is stiff and helps reduce curls. Similar to you I use something the stamps won’t stick to for flattening. But I use plastic sheet protectors. You can use multiple layers if doing lots of stamps. I actually put a 10 lb weight on top of the book. Probably overkill, but I get nice flat stamps!

[@johnscamardo2145]

one when soaking GB stamps which i learned . The early Victorian stamps were printed with a powdered ink and will sometimes lose color when soaked

[@silkontheweb]

Absolutely...

[@RichardLaurence]

I have a whole collection of King Edward VII penny red stamps with plate numbers on selvidge (basically bought as space fillers) that have been ruined by wetting! You need to just use humidity to get these stamps off. The red ink easily comes off in water.

[@johnscamardo2145]

I bought a large lot of stamps mostly US on pages and stock pages in the 80's . In with the lot were glassines full of Victoria reds both perf and imperf and have acquired many 2p blues ,reds and collections of Victoria issues up to the 10 shilling since some were on pages with plate numbers written below so I have a project there. I bought a few of the old Lincoln albums and an Imperial with excellent collections of the early GB through to Edward VII and had later issues some mint hinged of course. I found in a lot of cases for the old collections pieces of selvedge were used as hinges and whatever they had in order to mount stamps. In so doing found that saving pages was nigh impossible in some cases. Learned through the APS the proper way of removing these through wet box and or stamp lift. thankfully I didn't destroy anything.

[@Republic4ever714]

I soak my stamps in warm water for 15-20 mins then modify a DRY milk or soda bottle to size of hair drier scoop up stamps and drain them well then I put them in soda bottle stick hair dryer in and run on low speed then put on table remove the paper and lay stamps on wax paper to be put in good fat heavy book to flatten! Easy peasy! Wife didn’t yell once she doesn’t even know when I’m doing it! :)😂

[@silkontheweb]

Ah, I love the idea of inside a book... great call!

[@sylvaindore3190]

I have to admit that my heart skipped a beat or two when you cut the pages of the album. But I get it, it was very damaged. And I learned a couple of things when you soacked your stamps!

[@silkontheweb]

Glad it was helpful... not a decision I took lightly... but those Penny Reds look great in a nice album now!

[@АлексейП-и3н]

Super!!!Like!!!

[@jameslove1092]

Hi Silk. How do you deal with stamps on coloured paper. Always enjoy your videos. Best regards from James in Scotland.

[@silkontheweb]

The best luck I've had is with stamp removal liquid applied to the back of the paper, that loosens the stamp... but even it can cause the paper to bleed... admittedly though, I don't soak stamps all that often. Mostly I keep the collections together that I buy and I shy away from lots with on paper stamps for the most part...

[@johnscamardo2145]

I used to use paper towels but graduated to drying books years ago

[@silkontheweb]

Drying books are great...

[@Flipper83]

Nice video , you need proper tweezers , the one you use, is used in cosmetics , it works but it can damage stamps , i recently subscribed and looking forward to the next video ! greetings from the Netherlands!

[@silkontheweb]

Thank you so much for subscribing! And hello from a Dutchmen in America, a couple of generations removed. You're right... I'm not a big fan of those tweezers, they're flathead that I got at a hobby store, but I want to get a different pair soon. Thanks for commenting!

[@claire2470]

Agree with having a new stamp tweezer. . .yours is like the one being used to pluck underarm hair or gray/white head hair😅. . .

[@DaveShafer2]

And recommend getting 6” tweezers. They are not as hard to squeeze and if you work on stamps for a while your fingers can get tired

[@dougl945]

Dry them between thick watercolor block paper. It’s foolproof

[@silkontheweb]

That's a great idea!!

[@swannydeehosinpepper9655]

What are going to do with those Germany, and Area, stamps ??

[@Robertbrown08049]

It broke my heart to see you cut the album up. I have several old albums and I put my duplicates in them so they slowly get filled up again. BTW I understand the scissors comment. Whenever I would want to cut something my partner would say "Don't you use my good scissors". Lol! My partner passed away 6 years ago so that broiught back good memories

[@silkontheweb]

Rest assured... I only took that one page out (I purchased the album specifically for the revenue stamps, and they were so stuck to the page they had to be soaked off). Also, someone before me had taken several pages out already, so I felt it okay to do so. And thanks for sharing your story... precious memory...

[@JohnSmith-zw8vp]

Don't worry I'm using the bad scissors, the ones that joined a street gang! :D The ones that get coal for Christmas!

[@swannydeehosinpepper9655]

Make sure to use paper that does Not contain Acid, like paper towels do.. The acid will mess the stamps up later on down the road..

[@MH-fb5kr]

Use acid free blotter paper…

[@swannydeehosinpepper9655]

@@MH-fb5kr Right On, MH.. What country of stamps do you collect ?? I am getting rid of all my Other stamps so I can concentrate on building my Germany collection.. Want to trade ?? I'm sure I have something from the countries that you collect..

[@dougl945]

Put electrical tape on tweezers because stainless steel can easily damage wet paper

[@neilroe8897]

Cyril is a male name in the UK, you referred to him as her in the opening.

[@swannydeehosinpepper9655]

Most plastic wrapping has Acid in it, also...

[@fenrik8178]

Seems you reuploaded the video which removed my former comment, but I’ll leave another one for the algorithm! :)

[@silkontheweb]

Thanks!

[@dougl945]

Rachel Ray is nice cookware? lol

[@silkontheweb]

Lol!

[@MH-fb5kr]

Ain’t the way I do it

[@CaldonianDude]

I am new to stamps but I'm shocked that they would be put into water!!!!!!!! I mean, they are paper and usually paper and water do not go well together!

[@silkontheweb]

Welcome to the hobby!! It's endlessly fascinating

[@Creek54]

383 subscribers

[@silkontheweb]

Thx for joining the fun!