Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
I'm starting two threads in the same day, I hope I'm not annoying anyone, but I thought it urgent to ask this question.
I was adding some stamps to my stockbook when I realized that some of the additions I made in, like, the past two months are quite bended. It worries me, because in a few days, I'll start hinging my collection onto album pages and I don't want that bending trend to continue. Do you have any ideas why this is happening?
Thanks!
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I suspect that humidity changes have caused the bending. Try placing them between sheets of clean paper and pressing them under a few heavy books for a day or so.
Bob
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Hi, Too much heat can also cause stamps to bend especially if you are working with them in a space that gets the sun
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Georgi, you go right ahead and post all that you want. This is an open discussion board. No one is given any limit to how many posts they can create, or how many responses they can make on other posts. If that were the case, I'd be in serious trouble as I'm one of the bigger blabbermouths here!
Also, I really enjoy reading your posts.
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Well, the temperatures orbited around 40C here in the last week, so it might be the heat.
Is the bending process reversible, I mean, will the stamps regain their flatness if I place them in a space with no humidity, for example.
How -- or where -- do you, guys, store your collections?
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I agree with Michael; post away! Everyone learns from posts such as this, trust me.
I had a similar situation with a block of ten mint stamps. For some reason, this block decided to curl into a tube! My solution was to place it in a large sized Vario page for sheets (so it was completely covered, then I sandwiched that sheet between several copies of old Scott catalogues. Those suckers are HEAVY! I checked it every couple of weeks. Eventually it flattened out and I transferred the block to a mount into an album.
I've also uncurled used stamps by soaking them and drying them in a closed drying book. Of course, I would not do this with mint stamps.
Peter
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Hi georgi2201;
It is not caused by HEAT. It is caused by humidity. The gum and the paper have different expansion rates in response to high humidity. When one expands faster than the other, it causes the curling effect.
However heat can also affect stamps in other ways. Stamps that get stuck down in high humidity conditions, can be worsened by high temperature. The higher temperature softens the gum and makes it much easier to absorb moisture and stick down to other stamps.
Just Chillin'....
TuskenRaider
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Hi Everyone;
georgi2201 said;
"How -- or where -- do you, guys, store your collections?"
I store all my stamps and stamp related materials in a small air-conditioned bedroom. Loose
stamps in envelopes are in boxes in a metal cabinet. I use industrial sized desiccant (silica gel)
packs, inside the metal cabinet, 2-4 ounce or larger. They are re-chargeable, and I bake them
in oven at 250F once a year.
Just Chillin'....
TuskenRaider
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Hi guys,
I read somewhere that the bend indicates the way that the paper is laid ? (getting old now don't recall exactly)
Maybe the direction of the bend can indicate if the stamp is real or fake or maybe a REALLY valuable variation ??
Cheers
Steve.
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Thanks for your responses, everyone!
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If the bending is caused by humidity, it wouldn't be a very good idea to put a heavy book on top of the stack to flatten the stamps, since that may cause the stamps to stick to the Vario After all isn't it moisture that we use to make the stamps stick to envelopes anyway?
Mike
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place stamps in ziploc bag with desicant - sold in photo shops
common problem in asia, even europe ( hot countries)
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"I read somewhere that the bend indicates the way that the paper is laid ? (getting old now..."
Okay I read up to that point and wanted that sentence to finish with a punchline. I'll resist the temptation, but its so hard.
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"It is not caused by HEAT. It is caused by humidity..When one expands faster than the other...humidity...may cause the stamps to stick..."
Reading the comments above (this is an observation NOT a criticism) reminded me of a teacher whose pet peeve was companies making claims like "we only serve quality beef". He'd always say "but do they mean good quality or bad quality?
I think the "expansion" issue is on the right track, but moreso expansion or contraction. Same with "heat" but moreso "temperature" including the relative absence of heat (i.e. cold). So too with humidity - maybe the high, damp, sticky type - but also the other end of very low, overly dry, relative humidity.
I have been taking open boxes of loose stamps on my daily 1 hr commute to do some sorting at stop lights, etc. In a rush one day I had a box of stamps in the bathroom while taking a shower. Indeed, some (but not all) stamps did curl. But the biggest effect was when I left a box in my front seat and we had a snap freeze/snow storm. Most were unchanged but a huge number were significantly curled.
I didn't note the countries from the shower incident, but every one affected by the cold/low humidity were from either Russia or Indonesia, nowhere else. This makes me think the gum used may result in different sensitivities (or none at all) to "extreme" levels at either end of the temperature and humidity spectrums.
Sounds like a great experiment and monograph awaiting a philatelic mad scientist/sleuth.
Cheers, Dave.
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"This makes me think the gum used may result in different sensitivities (or none at all) to "extreme" levels at either end of the temperature and humidity spectrums."
And this I understand is one way to detect a regum if placed in the palm of a hand, if known genuine stamps of the same issue remain flat.
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Hello!
I'm starting two threads in the same day, I hope I'm not annoying anyone, but I thought it urgent to ask this question.
I was adding some stamps to my stockbook when I realized that some of the additions I made in, like, the past two months are quite bended. It worries me, because in a few days, I'll start hinging my collection onto album pages and I don't want that bending trend to continue. Do you have any ideas why this is happening?
Thanks!
Login to Like
this post
re: My stamps are bending dangerously
I suspect that humidity changes have caused the bending. Try placing them between sheets of clean paper and pressing them under a few heavy books for a day or so.
Bob
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.
08:04:52pm
re: My stamps are bending dangerously
Hi, Too much heat can also cause stamps to bend especially if you are working with them in a space that gets the sun
Login to Like
this post
08:11:49pm
re: My stamps are bending dangerously
Georgi, you go right ahead and post all that you want. This is an open discussion board. No one is given any limit to how many posts they can create, or how many responses they can make on other posts. If that were the case, I'd be in serious trouble as I'm one of the bigger blabbermouths here!
Also, I really enjoy reading your posts.
2 Members
like this post.
Login to Like.
re: My stamps are bending dangerously
Well, the temperatures orbited around 40C here in the last week, so it might be the heat.
Is the bending process reversible, I mean, will the stamps regain their flatness if I place them in a space with no humidity, for example.
How -- or where -- do you, guys, store your collections?
Login to Like
this post
05:45:59am
re: My stamps are bending dangerously
I agree with Michael; post away! Everyone learns from posts such as this, trust me.
I had a similar situation with a block of ten mint stamps. For some reason, this block decided to curl into a tube! My solution was to place it in a large sized Vario page for sheets (so it was completely covered, then I sandwiched that sheet between several copies of old Scott catalogues. Those suckers are HEAVY! I checked it every couple of weeks. Eventually it flattened out and I transferred the block to a mount into an album.
I've also uncurled used stamps by soaking them and drying them in a closed drying book. Of course, I would not do this with mint stamps.
Peter
Login to Like
this post
re: My stamps are bending dangerously
Hi georgi2201;
It is not caused by HEAT. It is caused by humidity. The gum and the paper have different expansion rates in response to high humidity. When one expands faster than the other, it causes the curling effect.
However heat can also affect stamps in other ways. Stamps that get stuck down in high humidity conditions, can be worsened by high temperature. The higher temperature softens the gum and makes it much easier to absorb moisture and stick down to other stamps.
Just Chillin'....
TuskenRaider
2 Members
like this post.
Login to Like.
re: My stamps are bending dangerously
Hi Everyone;
georgi2201 said;
"How -- or where -- do you, guys, store your collections?"
I store all my stamps and stamp related materials in a small air-conditioned bedroom. Loose
stamps in envelopes are in boxes in a metal cabinet. I use industrial sized desiccant (silica gel)
packs, inside the metal cabinet, 2-4 ounce or larger. They are re-chargeable, and I bake them
in oven at 250F once a year.
Just Chillin'....
TuskenRaider
2 Members
like this post.
Login to Like.
re: My stamps are bending dangerously
Hi guys,
I read somewhere that the bend indicates the way that the paper is laid ? (getting old now don't recall exactly)
Maybe the direction of the bend can indicate if the stamp is real or fake or maybe a REALLY valuable variation ??
Cheers
Steve.
Login to Like
this post
re: My stamps are bending dangerously
Thanks for your responses, everyone!
Login to Like
this post
re: My stamps are bending dangerously
If the bending is caused by humidity, it wouldn't be a very good idea to put a heavy book on top of the stack to flatten the stamps, since that may cause the stamps to stick to the Vario After all isn't it moisture that we use to make the stamps stick to envelopes anyway?
Mike
Login to Like
this post
re: My stamps are bending dangerously
place stamps in ziploc bag with desicant - sold in photo shops
common problem in asia, even europe ( hot countries)
Login to Like
this post
re: My stamps are bending dangerously
"I read somewhere that the bend indicates the way that the paper is laid ? (getting old now..."
Okay I read up to that point and wanted that sentence to finish with a punchline. I'll resist the temptation, but its so hard.
4 Members
like this post.
Login to Like.
re: My stamps are bending dangerously
"It is not caused by HEAT. It is caused by humidity..When one expands faster than the other...humidity...may cause the stamps to stick..."
Reading the comments above (this is an observation NOT a criticism) reminded me of a teacher whose pet peeve was companies making claims like "we only serve quality beef". He'd always say "but do they mean good quality or bad quality?
I think the "expansion" issue is on the right track, but moreso expansion or contraction. Same with "heat" but moreso "temperature" including the relative absence of heat (i.e. cold). So too with humidity - maybe the high, damp, sticky type - but also the other end of very low, overly dry, relative humidity.
I have been taking open boxes of loose stamps on my daily 1 hr commute to do some sorting at stop lights, etc. In a rush one day I had a box of stamps in the bathroom while taking a shower. Indeed, some (but not all) stamps did curl. But the biggest effect was when I left a box in my front seat and we had a snap freeze/snow storm. Most were unchanged but a huge number were significantly curled.
I didn't note the countries from the shower incident, but every one affected by the cold/low humidity were from either Russia or Indonesia, nowhere else. This makes me think the gum used may result in different sensitivities (or none at all) to "extreme" levels at either end of the temperature and humidity spectrums.
Sounds like a great experiment and monograph awaiting a philatelic mad scientist/sleuth.
Cheers, Dave.
Login to Like
this post
re: My stamps are bending dangerously
"This makes me think the gum used may result in different sensitivities (or none at all) to "extreme" levels at either end of the temperature and humidity spectrums."
And this I understand is one way to detect a regum if placed in the palm of a hand, if known genuine stamps of the same issue remain flat.
Login to Like
this post