Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
Login to Like
this post
In July of 2021, our home burned as a result of a lightning strike. Everything that was salvageable went into big plastic bins. I wasn’t sure what if any of my collections survived, but fortunately they did. The biggest issue is water damage from the water needed to put out the fire. If something survives that, then the smoke damage is the problem.
My U.S. collection had to be moved to new albums. The stamps in the closed albums do not smell even though the albums were ruined. I had to buy some new stock books, but everything else came out well. It’s likely that the stamps themselves are fine.
It’s now 2023. The house is rebuilt. No one was hurt. We still have a lot of bins to go through. A lot didn’t make it but all is fine and we are moving on. If you have any questions, just ask.
Login to Like
this post
Here is my opinion.
I would first scan every page to preserve the original work of the family before doing anything else.
Obviously the most effective treatment with sodium bicarbonate or activated carbon will be accomplished with direct air contact across the face of the pages/stamps. This means that trying to ‘destink’ closed albums will not be as effective as doing pages or stamps with direct air contact.
Baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) is very good at removing odors and can be less messy than dealing with activated carbon. You can try a full album by standing it up slight open in a large trash bag. Add baking soda in a tray of something else which gives the baking soda a large amount of surface area. Seal the trash bag and let sit for at least 10-20 days.
The same process could be used for album pages if you can figure out a way to use a small rack inside the garbage bag.
And since the albums page paper themselves account for the majority of the ‘stink’, if you remove the stamps from the pages, throw away the pages and binders, and then just treat the stamps themselves you will get the best results.
You could also build a ‘positive air pressure box’ using a mounted activated carbon cat litter box filter in one end, and mount a small fan in the other end of the box. Place albums/pages/stamps in the box and let run for a 4-5 days. This is feasible if you have large amounts of material to ‘de-stink’.
Don
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.
Question...for any used stamps, would "normal" soaking with some mild detergent work?
Login to Like
this post
If there is no damage to the stamps other than "odor" contact a cleaning firm that specializes in fire restoration and has an ozone room and ask them if they can remove the odor. You can rent ozone machines but a dedicated room in a warehouse type facility is much more effective. If the odor can be removed, and insurance is involved, they may be able to take care of the smoke before you obtain the collection. Bear in mind that smoke and heat can discolor and damage paper, as well as clothing etc. and usually nothing can take care of that issue.
Login to Like
this post
I have a friend who inherited a large stamp accumulation from her father and grandfather that apparently has a lot of significant collections in it. The house was lost in a fire but from what I understand the stamps survived the fire but smell of smoke. Don't know about water damage yet, as she didn't mention anything about that, which would be more serious as I know she had MNH Ducks from RW1 for example. Anyway what would be the implication of smoke on the value of stamps and what kind of remediation can be done to salvage as much value as possible. Jerry
Login to Like
this post
01:06:32pm
re: Stamps damaged by smoke?
In July of 2021, our home burned as a result of a lightning strike. Everything that was salvageable went into big plastic bins. I wasn’t sure what if any of my collections survived, but fortunately they did. The biggest issue is water damage from the water needed to put out the fire. If something survives that, then the smoke damage is the problem.
My U.S. collection had to be moved to new albums. The stamps in the closed albums do not smell even though the albums were ruined. I had to buy some new stock books, but everything else came out well. It’s likely that the stamps themselves are fine.
It’s now 2023. The house is rebuilt. No one was hurt. We still have a lot of bins to go through. A lot didn’t make it but all is fine and we are moving on. If you have any questions, just ask.
Login to Like
this post
re: Stamps damaged by smoke?
Here is my opinion.
I would first scan every page to preserve the original work of the family before doing anything else.
Obviously the most effective treatment with sodium bicarbonate or activated carbon will be accomplished with direct air contact across the face of the pages/stamps. This means that trying to ‘destink’ closed albums will not be as effective as doing pages or stamps with direct air contact.
Baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) is very good at removing odors and can be less messy than dealing with activated carbon. You can try a full album by standing it up slight open in a large trash bag. Add baking soda in a tray of something else which gives the baking soda a large amount of surface area. Seal the trash bag and let sit for at least 10-20 days.
The same process could be used for album pages if you can figure out a way to use a small rack inside the garbage bag.
And since the albums page paper themselves account for the majority of the ‘stink’, if you remove the stamps from the pages, throw away the pages and binders, and then just treat the stamps themselves you will get the best results.
You could also build a ‘positive air pressure box’ using a mounted activated carbon cat litter box filter in one end, and mount a small fan in the other end of the box. Place albums/pages/stamps in the box and let run for a 4-5 days. This is feasible if you have large amounts of material to ‘de-stink’.
Don
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.
re: Stamps damaged by smoke?
Question...for any used stamps, would "normal" soaking with some mild detergent work?
Login to Like
this post
07:36:43pm
re: Stamps damaged by smoke?
If there is no damage to the stamps other than "odor" contact a cleaning firm that specializes in fire restoration and has an ozone room and ask them if they can remove the odor. You can rent ozone machines but a dedicated room in a warehouse type facility is much more effective. If the odor can be removed, and insurance is involved, they may be able to take care of the smoke before you obtain the collection. Bear in mind that smoke and heat can discolor and damage paper, as well as clothing etc. and usually nothing can take care of that issue.
Login to Like
this post