Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
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Since the glue on the hinges is water soluble, there is little you can do in terms of removing the stamps from the album pages except pulling the hinges off the pages (carefully!) and soaking the hinges off the stamps in clear, lukewarm water. It also helps cleaning the stamps. Check in the catalog whether some stamps are printed with fugitive ink (some violet and green inks are notorious for it, e.g. late Victorian / early Edwardian era in the UK). Such stamps should only float on top of the water.
There are "magic liquids" like Stamplifter that can help getting a hinge off an unused stamp, but I've never tried them. I'd rather have a nice, clean, flat unused stamp without gum than a crumpled and dirty one with. But preferences may differ from person to person.
Have fun!
Martin
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Thank you so much martin. I was hoping I could just use water and would be able to 'free' the stamps that way. I will check the catalogs though, as they are older stamps and some of the inks may be water soluble and would create a mess.
I also have an old stamp album my wife made as a kid. Sadly though she used sellotape to secure the stamps to the pages. 
It was horrifying opening that album and seeing all the ruined stamps.
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On the topic of Sellotape: There was a time when self-adhesive removable hinges were popular. Problem was, the glue soaked through the paper and damaged the stamps by leaving greasy spots. Talk of foolish ingenuity ...
Martin
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Martin -
Yes the tape used was the old yellowish sellotape that has transferred over the years and has left streaks and marks across all the stamps. Also as the young stamp collector at the time wanted to make sure the stamps stayed put, the sellotape is RIGHT across the middle of all the stamps.
I have seen the self adhesive hinges you mentioned, but have never tried them myself.
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Speaking of the horrors of cellophane tape, here's one:
Would be SUCH a nice cover without the tape stains. Not to mention the "inverted" Jenny!
Ha-Ha, made you look twice!
-Paul
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Paul -
That is a shame about the sellotape marks, yes. Maybe I'll take a picture of that album sometime, just to horrify people on here.
(I did look twice at the 'inverted Jenny', hah, hah!) 
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Is it possible that the letter to Mr. Trotter was taped shut after a postie opened it in order to find out where to forward it to? Or are the bars of the Wilson postmark under the tape?
Lots of letters have been closed with self adhesive tape, lots of books and documents have been patched up with it - it may be cheap and handy, but it's an archivist's or librarian's nightmare. Not to mention that it is probably not environmentally friendly.
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Paul,
Yes! You got me right there! For a moment I thought it’s actually the infamous inverted Jenny!
Will
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A number of SOR members have donated stamps rendered non-collectable by the sellotape. They are more than just stains and can’t be removed. They actually seem to destroy the gum and some paper, becoming translucent.
One member donated a large number number of these and I almost cried when I saw the beautiful old stamps that any of us would have been thrilled to own just a few.
David
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I inherited an old stamp album with lots of stamps in it on hinges. I was wondering what the best way is for me to remove the hinged stamps from the album, and then the hinges from the stamps? I know you can buy solvent and stuff on Amazon but will just plain water work? I don’t have much experience with hinges, as you can probably tell.
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06:54:46am
re: Removing Stamps From Hinges?
Since the glue on the hinges is water soluble, there is little you can do in terms of removing the stamps from the album pages except pulling the hinges off the pages (carefully!) and soaking the hinges off the stamps in clear, lukewarm water. It also helps cleaning the stamps. Check in the catalog whether some stamps are printed with fugitive ink (some violet and green inks are notorious for it, e.g. late Victorian / early Edwardian era in the UK). Such stamps should only float on top of the water.
There are "magic liquids" like Stamplifter that can help getting a hinge off an unused stamp, but I've never tried them. I'd rather have a nice, clean, flat unused stamp without gum than a crumpled and dirty one with. But preferences may differ from person to person.
Have fun!
Martin
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re: Removing Stamps From Hinges?
Thank you so much martin. I was hoping I could just use water and would be able to 'free' the stamps that way. I will check the catalogs though, as they are older stamps and some of the inks may be water soluble and would create a mess.
I also have an old stamp album my wife made as a kid. Sadly though she used sellotape to secure the stamps to the pages. It was horrifying opening that album and seeing all the ruined stamps.
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05:21:56am
re: Removing Stamps From Hinges?
On the topic of Sellotape: There was a time when self-adhesive removable hinges were popular. Problem was, the glue soaked through the paper and damaged the stamps by leaving greasy spots. Talk of foolish ingenuity ...
Martin
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likes this post.
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re: Removing Stamps From Hinges?
Martin -
Yes the tape used was the old yellowish sellotape that has transferred over the years and has left streaks and marks across all the stamps. Also as the young stamp collector at the time wanted to make sure the stamps stayed put, the sellotape is RIGHT across the middle of all the stamps.
I have seen the self adhesive hinges you mentioned, but have never tried them myself.
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02:02:53pm
re: Removing Stamps From Hinges?
Speaking of the horrors of cellophane tape, here's one:
Would be SUCH a nice cover without the tape stains. Not to mention the "inverted" Jenny!
Ha-Ha, made you look twice!
-Paul
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re: Removing Stamps From Hinges?
Paul -
That is a shame about the sellotape marks, yes. Maybe I'll take a picture of that album sometime, just to horrify people on here.
(I did look twice at the 'inverted Jenny', hah, hah!)
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03:43:33am
re: Removing Stamps From Hinges?
Is it possible that the letter to Mr. Trotter was taped shut after a postie opened it in order to find out where to forward it to? Or are the bars of the Wilson postmark under the tape?
Lots of letters have been closed with self adhesive tape, lots of books and documents have been patched up with it - it may be cheap and handy, but it's an archivist's or librarian's nightmare. Not to mention that it is probably not environmentally friendly.
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08:43:34am
re: Removing Stamps From Hinges?
Paul,
Yes! You got me right there! For a moment I thought it’s actually the infamous inverted Jenny!
Will
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10:13:37am
re: Removing Stamps From Hinges?
A number of SOR members have donated stamps rendered non-collectable by the sellotape. They are more than just stains and can’t be removed. They actually seem to destroy the gum and some paper, becoming translucent.
One member donated a large number number of these and I almost cried when I saw the beautiful old stamps that any of us would have been thrilled to own just a few.
David
2 Members
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