Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
I sometimes receive stamps that provoque instantaneous allergic reactions.
I sometimes will go to a stamp show and will cough my head off, forcing me out of a room or a stand.
I sometimes find that my older albums may need "breezing" before I can work them. Same with some old envelopes that have been stored a long time somewhere else.
While I am allergic to pollens, and sensitive to smoke, I suspect MOLD!
And for little porous pieces of paper that have been sitting around for hundred of years, not always under the best conditions, that would not be surprising.
What is one to do? It even makes me think that philately may be harmful to my health! (and not just my pocket book). I have toyed with the idea of washing all used stamps I receive, and drying them thoroughly prior to putting them in my albums...but I cringe at the additional work! And will it get rid of the mold, if mold is really to blame?
Any one else? Any suggestion?
rrr
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I'm not sensitive like that, but I sure can tell when the stamps I've bought were owned by a smoker. Before you start scrubbing your stamps, have you considered being tested for the specific allergen? Maybe some simple allergy medication will take care of it - although, be careful, some allergy medication makes people loopy and you just may end up buying more stamps!
Geoff
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Try coins; hard to imagine that issue there unless you collect Banknotes.
Just kidding, of course.
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I can immediately tell if a package arrives that was sent by a smoker. It hits me the moment I open the box. One time I bought a huge hoard of first day covers and the smell hit me the moment I opened my mail box. I wound up taking advise from the board and put the covers in several grocery paper sacks, with a few dryer sheets. I left them in the garage for a few months and that seemed to take care of it.
I can agree that old paper picks up what I've always called "old paper smell", which is probably mold. Or maybe someone could tell us that old paper gives off a smell as it breaks down as it deteriorates.
I know that old magazines and newspapers weren't printed on quality paper since they were to be read and thrown away. There was a major effort to scan all the old model car magazines at the International Model Car Builders Museum since some of the early publications were flaking apart.
Try the dryer sheet process I mentioned above. Maybe that would take away the smell.
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I have not heard of stamp allergy as an officially recognized illness, but know that coin allergy (or rather nickel allergy) is.
Like mentioned before, I also regularly receive stamps that have been near smokers before they came to me. It wears off after a while, but it can be very penetrating.
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I've spoken many times here at SoR about the hoard of 1890s cut squares and off paper stamps that Dad found back around 1960. They were tightly bound with string or sewing thread into bundles of 100. Dad quit collecting not long after finding the hoard and did very little with it.
When I inherited the hoard in 2000, I began unbundling the 11-12,000 cut squares. I immediately began experiencing a mild respiratory problem. There was the faint odor of old paper, but nothing unusual in that regard. I learned that I needed to quickly untie a few bundles and spread them out and then stay away from them for several days before actually doing anything with them. Even then, I didn't put them into glassines or on stock pages for several weeks.
I still have most of the cut squares and whatever was causing the respiratory problem dissipated after several weeks.
I never noticed the respiratory problem with the thousands of stamps as I unbundled them.
Tom
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As a former smoker, the smell of smoke can be nauseating.
When I receive material that is musty or wreaks of smoke, I place it in a sealed plastic tum with a box or two of baking soda (the type you stick in the refrigerator). That usually will lesson or eliminate the odor after some period of time.
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With me it is cats (and dogs). I have worked on some lots from eBay and local shows and within minutes of starting I get itchy eyes.
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I belong to an online book swap and occasionally receive a book that smells of smoke. I put the offending book in a plastic bag, seal it and put it in the freezer. The thicker the book, the longer it takes. Have not tried it with stamps or covers but it would probably work. I am just not sure how the freezer would affect gum on unused stamps. Any thoughts on this?
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It's an interesting theory. I would imagine that one would have to remove the air from the bag first, as this would hold the actual moisture. But that is probably defeating the object.
But if someone is brave enough, perhaps a small version of those vacuum bags used for compressing and storing clothes (where a vacuum cleaner nozzle is attached to suck out the air), might be worth trying.
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Anyone else?
I sometimes receive stamps that provoque instantaneous allergic reactions.
I sometimes will go to a stamp show and will cough my head off, forcing me out of a room or a stand.
I sometimes find that my older albums may need "breezing" before I can work them. Same with some old envelopes that have been stored a long time somewhere else.
While I am allergic to pollens, and sensitive to smoke, I suspect MOLD!
And for little porous pieces of paper that have been sitting around for hundred of years, not always under the best conditions, that would not be surprising.
What is one to do? It even makes me think that philately may be harmful to my health! (and not just my pocket book). I have toyed with the idea of washing all used stamps I receive, and drying them thoroughly prior to putting them in my albums...but I cringe at the additional work! And will it get rid of the mold, if mold is really to blame?
Any one else? Any suggestion?
rrr
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this post
04:03:26pm
re: Allergies and stamps
I'm not sensitive like that, but I sure can tell when the stamps I've bought were owned by a smoker. Before you start scrubbing your stamps, have you considered being tested for the specific allergen? Maybe some simple allergy medication will take care of it - although, be careful, some allergy medication makes people loopy and you just may end up buying more stamps!
Geoff
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this post
re: Allergies and stamps
Try coins; hard to imagine that issue there unless you collect Banknotes.
Just kidding, of course.
Login to Like
this post
re: Allergies and stamps
I can immediately tell if a package arrives that was sent by a smoker. It hits me the moment I open the box. One time I bought a huge hoard of first day covers and the smell hit me the moment I opened my mail box. I wound up taking advise from the board and put the covers in several grocery paper sacks, with a few dryer sheets. I left them in the garage for a few months and that seemed to take care of it.
I can agree that old paper picks up what I've always called "old paper smell", which is probably mold. Or maybe someone could tell us that old paper gives off a smell as it breaks down as it deteriorates.
I know that old magazines and newspapers weren't printed on quality paper since they were to be read and thrown away. There was a major effort to scan all the old model car magazines at the International Model Car Builders Museum since some of the early publications were flaking apart.
Try the dryer sheet process I mentioned above. Maybe that would take away the smell.
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re: Allergies and stamps
I have not heard of stamp allergy as an officially recognized illness, but know that coin allergy (or rather nickel allergy) is.
Like mentioned before, I also regularly receive stamps that have been near smokers before they came to me. It wears off after a while, but it can be very penetrating.
Login to Like
this post
re: Allergies and stamps
I've spoken many times here at SoR about the hoard of 1890s cut squares and off paper stamps that Dad found back around 1960. They were tightly bound with string or sewing thread into bundles of 100. Dad quit collecting not long after finding the hoard and did very little with it.
When I inherited the hoard in 2000, I began unbundling the 11-12,000 cut squares. I immediately began experiencing a mild respiratory problem. There was the faint odor of old paper, but nothing unusual in that regard. I learned that I needed to quickly untie a few bundles and spread them out and then stay away from them for several days before actually doing anything with them. Even then, I didn't put them into glassines or on stock pages for several weeks.
I still have most of the cut squares and whatever was causing the respiratory problem dissipated after several weeks.
I never noticed the respiratory problem with the thousands of stamps as I unbundled them.
Tom
Login to Like
this post
re: Allergies and stamps
As a former smoker, the smell of smoke can be nauseating.
When I receive material that is musty or wreaks of smoke, I place it in a sealed plastic tum with a box or two of baking soda (the type you stick in the refrigerator). That usually will lesson or eliminate the odor after some period of time.
Login to Like
this post
re: Allergies and stamps
With me it is cats (and dogs). I have worked on some lots from eBay and local shows and within minutes of starting I get itchy eyes.
Login to Like
this post
re: Allergies and stamps
I belong to an online book swap and occasionally receive a book that smells of smoke. I put the offending book in a plastic bag, seal it and put it in the freezer. The thicker the book, the longer it takes. Have not tried it with stamps or covers but it would probably work. I am just not sure how the freezer would affect gum on unused stamps. Any thoughts on this?
Login to Like
this post
re: Allergies and stamps
It's an interesting theory. I would imagine that one would have to remove the air from the bag first, as this would hold the actual moisture. But that is probably defeating the object.
But if someone is brave enough, perhaps a small version of those vacuum bags used for compressing and storing clothes (where a vacuum cleaner nozzle is attached to suck out the air), might be worth trying.
Login to Like
this post