Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
I have recently amassed a small collection of approximately 300 stamps all recent (post 2010) on paper.
Are there any particular tips to soak these stamps off paper as I read online that it is quite difficult to remove the paper and sometimes it is better to keep them as is.
Thank you very much for any feedback.
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Belti, I see that no one replied to your question. :-(
I'm sure someone with more accurate information than I should have or could have answered, but until they do:
It's my understanding that how soakable a country's stamps are will vary by country. For example, the earlier self-adhesive US stamps *used* to have a special micro layer of paper that allowed for an easy release in water, and that the USPS later eliminated that requirement for stamp manufacturers in order to save on stamp production costs.
But that doesn't mean that other countries did the same thing. For instance, I also understand that recent Japanese stamps are still easy to soak from paper. I'm afraid I haven't heard any discussion about Italy, though.
Perhaps you can just take several of them -- ideally ones that you might have in duplicate, in case there is a problem -- and try. Let us know what happens!
...
Aside from the soakability problem (Scott now considers it proper that used self-adhesive stamps can remain on paper (neatly trimmed)), there are times when it still makes sense to leave stamps on paper, even if they are easily soakable.
First, if you happen to still have the stamps on the entire envelope, there are people who do collect modern postal history. If the stamps have already been trimmed, then, if the postmark/cancellation is still complete and readable, then perhaps that would be a candidate to leave alone. (And the less common it is, the better.)
I wrote here in such broad terms that I'm sure others will either want to correct what I've said or expand on it.
Hopefully it'll keep your initial question from rolling off into obscurity without an answer at all.
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Not sure if this will help but if you click on a stamp image it will lead to a stamp description. Maybe by using Google Chrome in translate mode you will be able to see which ones are self adhesive.
http://e-filatelia.poste.it/showCataloghiProdotti.asp?id_categoria_prodotto=281&lingua=english
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I soak my Aussies off in quite hot water with a few drops of detergent -
Don't know about the Italians though.
Be careful - some stamps, notably some Spanish ones will lose their ink if treated in this way.
Cheers
Steve.
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"Don't know about the Italians though."
I'm Italian, and I can assure you that if you soak me in hot water with a little bit of detergent, things will soak off of me!
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Hi All
I would like to thank each and every one of you for your valuable feedback 
I will try on some duplicates using hot water and perhaps some detergent. Do you recommend any particular detergent i.e. does it need to have any particular ingredient or any should do ?
Once again thank you very much.
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Personally, I simply keep self-adhesive stamps on the paper. Clip the surrounding paper from the envelope, but keep maybe 1 mm or two to protect the stamp. Soaking self-adhesive stamps takes too much effort, and all too often one is left with a damaged stamp.
If you're going to use detergent, use one that is free of fragrances and colors.
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I second Michael on both of his points:
-- watch out for fragrance (or bleach!) in detergent, but honestly, I'm not sure you'd need the detergent for anything as recent as you've described.
-- I'm not sure what the other catalogs say about it, but Scott says their catalog value for used self-adhesive is the same whether the paper (neatly trimmed) has been removed from the back or not.
(Also, just for the sake of completeness, Scott considers the catalog value of mint self-adhesives for them to be on their original backing paper.)
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I have tried a few modern Italian stamps and destroyed them in the process. I would leave them on paper. Even if you get them off, the tackiness is persistent and you would likely need to reapply them to leftover backing paper, or apply some talc. At least, such has been my experience.
-Doug
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09:00:58am
While hot water may be fine for Aussie stamps, it may effect the phosphor on other issues, such as Machins. There is also a time factor that can affect the tagging yhat many collectors find a necessary variant.
I'd start with slightly tepid water on a few experimental stamps..
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From experience the standard mail ( gold coloured ) definitive stamps of Italy do not soak at all well. I have no experience of modern (other value) definitives or commemoratives.
In general terms the "bog-standard" used by the million stamps are always the worst to soak from any country, as they attract the attentions of the authorities who wish to prevent re-use. Apparently it is cheaper to make stamps re-usable than ensuring that they are cancelled properly !
Malcolm
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06:07:51am
Hi
I have recently amassed a small collection of approximately 300 stamps all recent (post 2010) on paper.
Are there any particular tips to soak these stamps off paper as I read online that it is quite difficult to remove the paper and sometimes it is better to keep them as is.
Thank you very much for any feedback.
Login to Like
this post
re: Soaking Recent Italian stamps on Paper
Belti, I see that no one replied to your question. :-(
I'm sure someone with more accurate information than I should have or could have answered, but until they do:
It's my understanding that how soakable a country's stamps are will vary by country. For example, the earlier self-adhesive US stamps *used* to have a special micro layer of paper that allowed for an easy release in water, and that the USPS later eliminated that requirement for stamp manufacturers in order to save on stamp production costs.
But that doesn't mean that other countries did the same thing. For instance, I also understand that recent Japanese stamps are still easy to soak from paper. I'm afraid I haven't heard any discussion about Italy, though.
Perhaps you can just take several of them -- ideally ones that you might have in duplicate, in case there is a problem -- and try. Let us know what happens!
...
Aside from the soakability problem (Scott now considers it proper that used self-adhesive stamps can remain on paper (neatly trimmed)), there are times when it still makes sense to leave stamps on paper, even if they are easily soakable.
First, if you happen to still have the stamps on the entire envelope, there are people who do collect modern postal history. If the stamps have already been trimmed, then, if the postmark/cancellation is still complete and readable, then perhaps that would be a candidate to leave alone. (And the less common it is, the better.)
I wrote here in such broad terms that I'm sure others will either want to correct what I've said or expand on it.
Hopefully it'll keep your initial question from rolling off into obscurity without an answer at all.
Login to Like
this post
re: Soaking Recent Italian stamps on Paper
Not sure if this will help but if you click on a stamp image it will lead to a stamp description. Maybe by using Google Chrome in translate mode you will be able to see which ones are self adhesive.
http://e-filatelia.poste.it/showCataloghiProdotti.asp?id_categoria_prodotto=281&lingua=english
Login to Like
this post
re: Soaking Recent Italian stamps on Paper
I soak my Aussies off in quite hot water with a few drops of detergent -
Don't know about the Italians though.
Be careful - some stamps, notably some Spanish ones will lose their ink if treated in this way.
Cheers
Steve.
Login to Like
this post
11:54:44pm
re: Soaking Recent Italian stamps on Paper
"Don't know about the Italians though."
I'm Italian, and I can assure you that if you soak me in hot water with a little bit of detergent, things will soak off of me!
Login to Like
this post
03:23:48am
re: Soaking Recent Italian stamps on Paper
Hi All
I would like to thank each and every one of you for your valuable feedback
I will try on some duplicates using hot water and perhaps some detergent. Do you recommend any particular detergent i.e. does it need to have any particular ingredient or any should do ?
Once again thank you very much.
1 Member
likes this post.
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09:50:25am
re: Soaking Recent Italian stamps on Paper
Personally, I simply keep self-adhesive stamps on the paper. Clip the surrounding paper from the envelope, but keep maybe 1 mm or two to protect the stamp. Soaking self-adhesive stamps takes too much effort, and all too often one is left with a damaged stamp.
If you're going to use detergent, use one that is free of fragrances and colors.
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like this post.
Login to Like.
re: Soaking Recent Italian stamps on Paper
I second Michael on both of his points:
-- watch out for fragrance (or bleach!) in detergent, but honestly, I'm not sure you'd need the detergent for anything as recent as you've described.
-- I'm not sure what the other catalogs say about it, but Scott says their catalog value for used self-adhesive is the same whether the paper (neatly trimmed) has been removed from the back or not.
(Also, just for the sake of completeness, Scott considers the catalog value of mint self-adhesives for them to be on their original backing paper.)
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this post
re: Soaking Recent Italian stamps on Paper
I have tried a few modern Italian stamps and destroyed them in the process. I would leave them on paper. Even if you get them off, the tackiness is persistent and you would likely need to reapply them to leftover backing paper, or apply some talc. At least, such has been my experience.
-Doug
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Silence in the face of adversity is the father of complicity and collusion, the first cousins of conspiracy..
12 May 2017
09:00:58am
re: Soaking Recent Italian stamps on Paper
While hot water may be fine for Aussie stamps, it may effect the phosphor on other issues, such as Machins. There is also a time factor that can affect the tagging yhat many collectors find a necessary variant.
I'd start with slightly tepid water on a few experimental stamps..
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05:27:25pm
re: Soaking Recent Italian stamps on Paper
From experience the standard mail ( gold coloured ) definitive stamps of Italy do not soak at all well. I have no experience of modern (other value) definitives or commemoratives.
In general terms the "bog-standard" used by the million stamps are always the worst to soak from any country, as they attract the attentions of the authorities who wish to prevent re-use. Apparently it is cheaper to make stamps re-usable than ensuring that they are cancelled properly !
Malcolm
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