Help me save those stamps please

Postcrossing Help!
1

Yesterday I spilled a glass of water over 10x10 stamps. I immediately put them out in the sun to dry and it worked for most of them. But then I left and it began to rain like it’s the end of the world (whoever watched Germany against Denmark yesterday knows). I was able to save most of them again (although they now look a bit wrinkeld) except for one sheet. Has anyone any Idea how I can save those ?

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Edit: What ironic coincidence that the only ones I couldn’t save were the UEFA Euro2024 ones which got destroyed during the UEFA Euro2024 match :rofl:

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Don’t throw the stamps away! Let them dry first. Is it possible to iron stamps using the lowest possible temperature and a piece of cotton cloth?!

Maybe you should go to the post office and ask for advice, explain the problem and ask if you can use those stamps. If the stamps don’t stick to paper anymore, use the double-sided Tesa which is about 5 cm wide. You can cut out the right amount of tape to stick onto the stamps. But I would consult the post office.

Just random thoughts, but I didn’t have such a problem, so I cannot give you tips that work 100 percent.

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they are dry already and they are stuck together now

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How ironic,
But i would suggest that you again put them in bowl of water and soak them and then dry them in fan and then press them between heavy book for 1 day, it’ll be great!!
And use it with glue

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Use steam just like secret services opened the letters in socialist times?

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You should be able to soak them in a bowl of water to get them flat again, and then place them on a hard surface with something heavy over the top (or between pages of a thick book). This is what stamp collectors do to soak stamps off envelopes! I will suggest maybe using some wax or parchment paper so any glue that is left doesn’t stick the stamps to whatever you put them on. I have special books for when I was unmounting stamps, and the pages were waxy on one side with a thick, absorbent paper on the other.

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I got them apart with water and put them on paper where stickers were on

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I’d take them to the place where I bought them, tell them what happened and ask them if they can replace the sheet.
Operating with glue, ducktape etc. is not allowed in Germany

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I was using glue with stamps before, why isn’t it allowed? And I bought them online.

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You can exchange them at the post office, but I don’t know whether you’ll get your EM stamps back.

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It was not allowed before either. The background of that rule may be, that the stamp could be reused.

So turn to the online shop.

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Dont drink and stamp! LOL Actually, back into water or steam to get them loose and unfolded and then flatten between wax paper should work. The printing on stamps and the paper that they are on are supposed to take a beating and a rainshower, just in case they need to on their journey.

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If the American post office had a similar rule, I’d still glue them if I paid them for a stamp that is not fake, and has not been used before.

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Agreed. In fact, I already use glue stick on old US paper stamps when the gum is no longer sticky.
@GeminiFootprints If you are careful, the use of glue stick should not be noticeable, but I am not recommending you go against German postal law of course.

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And how do you attach non-self-adhesive stamps to envelopes or postcards?

Untile some years ago it was probably common to lick them, but after covid I don’t think it’s done anymore. And especially not in post offices.

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I still lick them, but usually in private.

Post offices in Germany have “wet pads” to moisten stamps and activate the adhesive.

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It was never common to lick stamps in Postoffices in Germany, they had a wet pad long before COVID

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Placed a few drops of water on the table then use finger to wipe the stamp wet. Wet fingers, wipe with a tissue to dry. :laughing: haha!

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I lick them as I always did.

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@GeminiFootprints
As @RalfH already said: Here in Germany you can exchange stamps - up to €50 in nearly any post office and online for higher amounts.

Unbrauchbar gewordene Briefmarken, die z.B. falsch aufgeklebt wurden, eingerissen sind, abgeschnitten wurden oder durch andere Umstände, wie einen Wasserschaden, unbrauchbar geworden sind, tauschen wir Ihnen in den meisten Filialen der Deutschen Post bis zu einem Betrag von 50 EUR gerne gegen postfrische gleichwertige Briefmarken um; bereits verklebte Briefmarken nur zusammen mit den dazugehörigen Briefumschlägen bzw. POSTKARTEN.
Verdorbene Briefmarken mit einem Portowert über 50 EUR senden Sie bitte an:
Deutsche Post AG
Service- und Versandzentrum
…

If stamps have become unusable, e.g. if they have been affixed incorrectly, are torn, have been cut off or have become unusable due to other circumstances such as water damage, we will be happy to exchange them for mint stamps of the same value up to a value of EUR 50 at most Deutsche Post branches; stamps that have already been affixed must be sent together with the corresponding envelopes or POSTKARTEN.
Please send spoilt stamps with a postage value over EUR 50 to:
Deutsche Post AG
Service and dispatch centre
…

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