I would definitely soak them. You will even be doing them a favor. All that gunk on the back, reacting differently from the paper to the moisture changes in the air, can end up cracking the paper -- just like some 19th century original gum does.
Unless they are of a fugitive ink printing (some 19th and early 20th century Great Britain for example) a soak won't hurt them in the slightest. You may be surprised how nice they look afterwards.
Roy
Hi,
I have just been soaking a whole bunch of hinges off stamps from an old album I just bought. Some of them already had three hinges on one stamp!!! No need for another one at that point. I have also been cleaning up some of the stamps that were poorly soaked to begin and they have bits of paper left of the back but it is not visable from the front. Still it makes it impossible to see the watermark. I have never had a problem with this extra soaking. I find it only ever improves the stamp.
Cheers
Scott
Hi guys:
Roy - thanks so much for he super "Handshakes". Made me feel warm inside - yes indeedy it did!
Scott: I understand about the '3 hinges' on the stamp. I've only managed to get 1-2 ahead of you.
I guess what I really meant was: Since so many hinges have been ripped from the stamps - and the fact that the hinge (half hinge) is still attached - and these hinges are huge - and seem to be offering additional support to the top of the stamp - well, can it truly hurt to leave this last 'half' hinge attached (without soaking) and merely attach a hinge to that half hinge?
To be honest, I'm scared of seeing the top 1/2 of the stamps - at this time - and after having so many hinges previously removed.
Handshakes,
Dakota
I just started stripping some loose album pages of old Belgian's. I'm not sure what brand of hinge was used but the hinges are huge - and they do not want to peel off the stamp. When I try to remove the stamp from the album page the hinge tears very cleanly on the fold.
I inspected the back of the stamps and can find traces of 3-5 previous hinges. I guess these stamps have passed through the hands of many collectors.
Because I can find traces of so many hinges, I wonder if (except for the original soaking) if anyone has ever tried to soak them again - or if they've merely stripped the old hinge off, used a new hinge and re-mounted the stamp.
I'm tempted to just leave the old (big) hinge there and mount my hinge on top of it. It would surely be easier for the next collector. The old hinge is really very tight on the stamp.
But, back to original query. How many times would be too many for soaking a stamp. Oh yeah, how many times could one expect to strip off old hinges before starting to cause thins in the stamp?
Seems to me that leaving the old hinge and mounting a new hinge to it is both quicker and safer - but I dunno.
Ideas anyone?
Handshakes,
Dakota
re: Should hinge remnants be removed?
I would definitely soak them. You will even be doing them a favor. All that gunk on the back, reacting differently from the paper to the moisture changes in the air, can end up cracking the paper -- just like some 19th century original gum does.
Unless they are of a fugitive ink printing (some 19th and early 20th century Great Britain for example) a soak won't hurt them in the slightest. You may be surprised how nice they look afterwards.
Roy
re: Should hinge remnants be removed?
Hi,
I have just been soaking a whole bunch of hinges off stamps from an old album I just bought. Some of them already had three hinges on one stamp!!! No need for another one at that point. I have also been cleaning up some of the stamps that were poorly soaked to begin and they have bits of paper left of the back but it is not visable from the front. Still it makes it impossible to see the watermark. I have never had a problem with this extra soaking. I find it only ever improves the stamp.
Cheers
Scott
re: Should hinge remnants be removed?
Hi guys:
Roy - thanks so much for he super "Handshakes". Made me feel warm inside - yes indeedy it did!
Scott: I understand about the '3 hinges' on the stamp. I've only managed to get 1-2 ahead of you.
I guess what I really meant was: Since so many hinges have been ripped from the stamps - and the fact that the hinge (half hinge) is still attached - and these hinges are huge - and seem to be offering additional support to the top of the stamp - well, can it truly hurt to leave this last 'half' hinge attached (without soaking) and merely attach a hinge to that half hinge?
To be honest, I'm scared of seeing the top 1/2 of the stamps - at this time - and after having so many hinges previously removed.
Handshakes,
Dakota