Any form of stamp storage has a shelf life. When I first started getting back seriously into collecting I considered Hawid mounts but my experience is that they are a bit flimsy. My guess is you are replacing them just at the right time before they do damage to the stamps. My experience is that the Showgard type mount is more durable, but even these should be changed out every so often. Right now I am using Steiner pages for most everything I do. Ten years from now I will most likely start making my own pages and remounting all the collections on fresh pages with fresh mounts in just the way I want them to be.
I am transferring my British from a Gibbons Windsor album to a set of pages I downloaded and printed myself. Using standard page size rather than the odd size Gibbons uses for their pages will allow me to have more flexibility in doing pages for Postal History items, etc. Also their treatment of the Machins is a mess IMO.
Yeah I am thinking it is good I caught this.
Were those actual Hawid brand mounts, or simply Hawid-style open-top mounts?
I've acquired numerous collections stored in clear Hawid-style mounts over the years. I occasionally run into a few individual mounts that have either broken off at the seam or started partially separating at the seam (this includes mounts in Lighthouse hingeless albums). However, the "problem" rate is much less than 1% of mounts. Not even close to the nearly 33% rate you observed. As long as you weren't storing more than one stamp per mount, and not cramming the stamp into the bottom of the mount to keep it from moving, and not storing in warm very dry conditions -- I can't guess why this would be happening.
I have not had problems with my Hawid brand mounts. They are definitely "stiffer" than Showgard mounts. The softer Showgard mounts rarely separate at the seams, but are prone to minor creases that show up as opaque spots that are readily observable on a black background when stamps are removed. When disassembling collections in Showgard-type mounts, I quickly notice when mounts were roughly handled with stamp tongs.
Hawid does sell a "pen" to re-seal the seams, but I've never tried it.
I'm kind of in a quandry, because I prefer open-top mounts and black background, which is not readily available commercially (EDIT: not readily available at a cheap price). I've considered using Showgard-type mounts and cutting them in half (I've got a ton of used mounts where half the mount adhesive is completely unwetted), but haven't made the effort to try it out for a whole album page.
KHJ, I get my Hawid mounts from GB stamps, they sell them loose in bundles of 25 strips or as precut.
Here is the link.
http://www.greatbritainstamps.net/
I appreciate that they are in UK but I found them cheaper even with postage than Subway.
I cannot say with certainty these were Hawid but I think it likely. They were black and I cannot think of any other brand I have used in that time frame. I do the thing sometimes with cutting down a Showgard as mentioned but these mounts were used with stamps measuring 41mm high, doubt I'd have attempted that on this many mounts that tall. It may be that I just purchased a bad batch back then.
I've had issues on Hawids recently not adhering to the page. The gum on them- mainly on the clears- just does not hold the stamp.
Thanks for the info, Sheepshanks! I've bookmarked the link.
Many years ago, I purchased a clearance lot of them and I'm still good to go as I don't use much. I basically use them for replacing broken mounts or adding stamp varieties to my Lighthouse/Davo... hingeless pages.
Another excellent source of mounts is here...
http://www.fvhstamps.com/AlbumsAccessories/Supplies.htm
Wig
(Modified by Moderator on 2017-03-23 00:03:32)
Strange issue here.
I use open top Hawid mounts for most of my better collections. Lately I've been transferring my British material out of several printed albums onto my own pages. On almost a third of the stamps I am noting that when removing stamps from the mounts, the mount tends to crack along the seam and in many cases the top sheet comes off. leaving the back affixed to the page. They seem brittle. I affixed these perhaps 8-10 years back.
What is going on here? Did I use a bad batch of mount at one time or is there some issue with humidity in my storage? I have never had this issue with Hawid, or any other mounts.
re: Mounts Coming Apart
Any form of stamp storage has a shelf life. When I first started getting back seriously into collecting I considered Hawid mounts but my experience is that they are a bit flimsy. My guess is you are replacing them just at the right time before they do damage to the stamps. My experience is that the Showgard type mount is more durable, but even these should be changed out every so often. Right now I am using Steiner pages for most everything I do. Ten years from now I will most likely start making my own pages and remounting all the collections on fresh pages with fresh mounts in just the way I want them to be.
re: Mounts Coming Apart
I am transferring my British from a Gibbons Windsor album to a set of pages I downloaded and printed myself. Using standard page size rather than the odd size Gibbons uses for their pages will allow me to have more flexibility in doing pages for Postal History items, etc. Also their treatment of the Machins is a mess IMO.
Yeah I am thinking it is good I caught this.
re: Mounts Coming Apart
Were those actual Hawid brand mounts, or simply Hawid-style open-top mounts?
I've acquired numerous collections stored in clear Hawid-style mounts over the years. I occasionally run into a few individual mounts that have either broken off at the seam or started partially separating at the seam (this includes mounts in Lighthouse hingeless albums). However, the "problem" rate is much less than 1% of mounts. Not even close to the nearly 33% rate you observed. As long as you weren't storing more than one stamp per mount, and not cramming the stamp into the bottom of the mount to keep it from moving, and not storing in warm very dry conditions -- I can't guess why this would be happening.
I have not had problems with my Hawid brand mounts. They are definitely "stiffer" than Showgard mounts. The softer Showgard mounts rarely separate at the seams, but are prone to minor creases that show up as opaque spots that are readily observable on a black background when stamps are removed. When disassembling collections in Showgard-type mounts, I quickly notice when mounts were roughly handled with stamp tongs.
Hawid does sell a "pen" to re-seal the seams, but I've never tried it.
I'm kind of in a quandry, because I prefer open-top mounts and black background, which is not readily available commercially (EDIT: not readily available at a cheap price). I've considered using Showgard-type mounts and cutting them in half (I've got a ton of used mounts where half the mount adhesive is completely unwetted), but haven't made the effort to try it out for a whole album page.
re: Mounts Coming Apart
KHJ, I get my Hawid mounts from GB stamps, they sell them loose in bundles of 25 strips or as precut.
Here is the link.
http://www.greatbritainstamps.net/
I appreciate that they are in UK but I found them cheaper even with postage than Subway.
re: Mounts Coming Apart
I cannot say with certainty these were Hawid but I think it likely. They were black and I cannot think of any other brand I have used in that time frame. I do the thing sometimes with cutting down a Showgard as mentioned but these mounts were used with stamps measuring 41mm high, doubt I'd have attempted that on this many mounts that tall. It may be that I just purchased a bad batch back then.
I've had issues on Hawids recently not adhering to the page. The gum on them- mainly on the clears- just does not hold the stamp.
re: Mounts Coming Apart
Thanks for the info, Sheepshanks! I've bookmarked the link.
Many years ago, I purchased a clearance lot of them and I'm still good to go as I don't use much. I basically use them for replacing broken mounts or adding stamp varieties to my Lighthouse/Davo... hingeless pages.
re: Mounts Coming Apart
Another excellent source of mounts is here...
http://www.fvhstamps.com/AlbumsAccessories/Supplies.htm
Wig
(Modified by Moderator on 2017-03-23 00:03:32)