[Stamp Collectors] What do you do with sticker stamps?

Postcards & Mail Mail, stamps & postal info
21

It depends on the card, also. Some people don’t save each and every card.

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22

:us: Thanks for the info, I successfully peeled off some USPS “Forever World” stamps!

:de: BTW the German self-adhesive stamps can be removed from the paper with water.

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23

Are you able to get the rubbing alcohol to penetrate(?) thicker paper like postcards? Or does it require other methods?

Just curious, I’m not going to get rid of my wonderful postcards just for the stamps though :crazy_face:

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24

It should work on thicker paper as long as alcohol reaches the layer between paper and stamp. You might just need more amount of alcohol.

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25

Awesome!!! :blush:

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26

Cool!
Keeping the cards so I’ll try it on envelopes first! Thank you all so much :heart::heart::heart:

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27

:uk: I tried the alcohol method for a sample British stamp, a Machin GBP 1.25 Green. The stamp came out of the paper fine, with the security cutouts intact. Unfortunately the ink is slighlty soluble in alcohol, and this caused a smearing of the image, noticeable on the white margin.

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28

I tried this method but I used eucalyptus oil instead of alcohol. It worked perfectly for envelope I received recently but took a longer time for envelope I received years ago.

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29

Interesting, thanks! I will try this method since I do have some eucalyptus oil here. :blush:

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30

For Finnish stamps warm water is usually enough, the gum transforms to something feeling like bubble gum. You can the pull it off very gently. Usually. Not always. I guess it depends on how lucky you are. When I’m not lucky I then try isopropyl alcohol like shown above.

But I usually keep also envelopes intact, unless they have “special” stamps like those fabric stamps from Austria. Those I just throw away.

31

This is how I remove self-adhesive stamps from envelopes from now on - tested this morning and it works at least for now. I found this in a stamp magazine few days ago. Please note that you WILL need some kind of mask when doing this.

  • Put the paper with stamp on it on a piece protective paper, cardboard, or anything that does not contain color, stamp facing down.
  • Spray a little of limonene contaning grease remover on the stamp paper. This stuff is very poisonous so seriously, use a mask and do this in well ventilated place. This stuff also removes ink from newspapers so make sure the protective paper is indeed without color.
  • Now peel the stamp carefully from paper, use some kind of plastic card, for example an old credit card to scrape off excess glue.
  • All glue does not come off from the stamp, so sprinkle a bit of talc (baby powder) on the stamp’s backside to neutralize it.

Your working area will smell like five hells for a few hours so living room might not be the right place. I did this on stove with cooker hood at full power.

32

You throw away “special” fabric stamps from Austria ? :pleading_face: