Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
To remove a self-adhesive stamp from an envelope simply heat two cups of water on a high setting in a microwave oven for 1½ minutes. Once you have heated the water add half a teaspoon of soft soap (preferably unscented) along with a cup of water and mix it well. Once you have mixed the soft soap in add your self-adhesive stamps to soak for two - four minutes. All self-adhesive stamps should soak off clean within this time frame with no remaining adhesive. After soaking the stamps transfer them to a large bowl of fresh water and allow them 5-10 minutes to soak which will remove the remainder of the soap.
Have not tried it, so cannot say if it works. ( Probably only on NZ stamps)
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Ok, so tried it this morning, hotter water helped, nothing was easily removable after just a short soak.
I found that leaving them to soak for longer, then using my fingers to smear the stamp slightly worked better. If you can lift a corner and peel the paper away from the stamp it leaves the gummed paper layer behind. They came off of thicker and brown paper easier.
It also worked on a few Eire flower self adhesives.
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The good thing about NZ self-adhesive stamps is that they had or have a water-soluble layer of glue between the stamp paper and the sticky stuff. You don't alway need hot water and soap, but yes, warm water helps immensely.
That having said, when soaking a bunch of 2009 Kiwi stamps I noticed that the paper of the envelope also plays a role, and I've recently noticed the same with Swiss stamps. As a rule of thumb, if the paper-stamp combo curls towards the stamp upon soaking, chances are good that you can peel the stamp off without any damage after a few minutes in the water. If it curls the other way, well, good luck ...
Martin
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From the New Zealand post office web site, comes this information. https://collectables.nzpost.co.nz/stamp- ...
To remove a self-adhesive stamp from an envelope simply heat two cups of water on a high setting in a microwave oven for 1½ minutes. Once you have heated the water add half a teaspoon of soft soap (preferably unscented) along with a cup of water and mix it well. Once you have mixed the soft soap in add your self-adhesive stamps to soak for two - four minutes. All self-adhesive stamps should soak off clean within this time frame with no remaining adhesive. After soaking the stamps transfer them to a large bowl of fresh water and allow them 5-10 minutes to soak which will remove the remainder of the soap.
Have not tried it, so cannot say if it works. ( Probably only on NZ stamps)
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re: Soaking NZ self adhesive stamps.
Ok, so tried it this morning, hotter water helped, nothing was easily removable after just a short soak.
I found that leaving them to soak for longer, then using my fingers to smear the stamp slightly worked better. If you can lift a corner and peel the paper away from the stamp it leaves the gummed paper layer behind. They came off of thicker and brown paper easier.
It also worked on a few Eire flower self adhesives.
3 Members
like this post.
Login to Like.
re: Soaking NZ self adhesive stamps.
The good thing about NZ self-adhesive stamps is that they had or have a water-soluble layer of glue between the stamp paper and the sticky stuff. You don't alway need hot water and soap, but yes, warm water helps immensely.
That having said, when soaking a bunch of 2009 Kiwi stamps I noticed that the paper of the envelope also plays a role, and I've recently noticed the same with Swiss stamps. As a rule of thumb, if the paper-stamp combo curls towards the stamp upon soaking, chances are good that you can peel the stamp off without any damage after a few minutes in the water. If it curls the other way, well, good luck ...
Martin
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