And make sure the adhesive is acid free.
Les, I have seen alot of badly kept collections, but I have never heard of that. Do you have any idea what type of glue was used?
Michael,
Unfortunately, I do not. I wish that I did. I bought it sometime last year on eBay. I haven't gone through that collection very carefully just did the count to determine my cost per stamp. Last night I pulled it out and stumbled onto the damage as I was breaking it down. If the collector had just used the corners to remount then I think he or she would have minimized the potential damage. But he or she used the center of the mount to place the glue.
Hawid makes a solvent free glue for remounting mounts. I will use that but I am careful to only place the glue on the top corners of the mount.
In reference to your earlier comment about Scotch tape, the other day I found a US 326 5c dark blue McKinley, Scott 2011 Catalogue value $25.00 that was in a mount that had been taped to the album page with cellophane tape. The adhesive had bled through the mount and into the stamp.
Yes, I have seen many good stamps ruined with tape.....
Back in the late 1970s mounts were starting to catch on with people. The glue on the back of the strips wasn't all that great and the mounts often fell off the pages. Showgard made a tube of glue to re-attach the mounts. I bought one and used it on quite a few mounts. That glue had a high acid base and it didn't take long before the album pages began to turn brown at the location where the glue was. I had to buy a couple of new albums because of that as I didn't want that to spread. I know that the glue for the mounts is still out there, so be careful if you run across one of the older tubes. I would hope that by now Showgard and Hawid (same thing) remounting glue is acid free.
I have used "Elmer's School Glue" to remount mounts. I never thought to check and see if the glue is harmful. The label says "safe, non-toxic"; although we all that manufacturers are in the business of promoting their product, often in egregious conflict with the truth, I do not remember ever seeing this type glue cause problems. It does say not for use on photos. Any thoughts?
Bobby the old Elmers glue has caused discoloring on some paper. I am not sure about the newer formula but I can tell you for certain the old Elmers caused problems. Avery sells a glue stick that is acid free and can be used on paper, photos etc. Unless the glue says it is acid free and safe for paper don't use it.
The real question is how will the glue react to the mount and the paper. Since the glue on my Prinz mounts is saliva activated I would stick with a water based product. I have seen glue pens offered specifically for mounts advertised but haven't tried one.
I doubt there is any toxins in it since it is intended for children to use. Probably is relatively acid neutral too, but I don't know that for sure. I do know, however, that Elmer's glue does not stick well to plastic. Model railroaders use Elmer's Glue to attach items to model railroad layouts like buildings and tress so that they can be easily removed if needed. That way the plastic building or tree is not broken when removed from the layout. With that in mind, I'm not sure how well Elmer's glue will stick to a plastic mount. If you do try it, make sure that you only apply a very thing amount of glue to the back of the mount. Too much, and the water based glue will soak through to the back of the page. If you have stamps on the back of the page, could cause some damage. If you put it on rather heavy, it could soak through to the next page too and mess things up there too.
Whenever trying something with stamps, it is always best to find junky stamps and junky pages for the experiment. If something goes wrong, you just toss the mess away with no harm done. You wouldn't want to experiment on a $5 Columbian!
The Hawid glue pens only work on mounts. They are really designed to close the mount. Believe me I have tried to use the pen to stick mounts. The Hawid tube is designed for remounting mounts to the album page. I have only used it a couple of times, but have noticed any damage.
Saliva is acidic so one needs to be somewhat careful with their spit. I try to only lick the upper part of the mount. It would be nice if Hawid and Showgard (Vidi forms) would start using 'Post-it' style glue. That way one can peel the mount away from the album page without damage.
I hear on that about wanting to be able to peel the mounts off the album pages without ripping the crud out of the pages. I find that the glue used on Prinz/Scott mounts is not as destructive when removing the mount. Often the glue peels off the mount as the mount is pulled off the page.
You do mention one important thing. Only moisten the top part of the mount. I have seen collections where the mounts were stuck down to the page with the mount having been moistened on both halves. The result is a line of water damage across the middle of the gum of the stamp. Kills the value right then and there.
To avoid the potential for water damage that michael78651 mentions above, I first affix the mount in the album and then insert the stamp after the mount has dried (even though I only apply moisture sparingly).
As to glue with solvent, I once tried to reattach a piece of a hearing aid that had broken off with super glue -- it dissolved the plastic that it came into contact with.
At the present, I have about 4 collections that I am breaking down. One particular collection is mounted on heavy weight White Ace pages with black showgard type mounts. Apparently the original water activated glue on the backs of the mounts was either missing or had deteriorated to the point that the mounts were falling loose from the pages. The collector used an unidentified household glue on the showgard foils to remount the stamps. The glue dissolved the mount and the stamps (in this case 12 out of 13 Overrun Countries MNH issues) were ruined. I will be able to use them as postage, but the stamps will always have thins.
If you have to remount mounts, please use glue that does not contain a solvent. The mount is there to protect the stamp not destroy it.
(Reduced image size - Tim)
(Modified by Moderator on 2013-03-03 10:49:33)
re: The Damage caused by Glues containing Solvent
And make sure the adhesive is acid free.
Les, I have seen alot of badly kept collections, but I have never heard of that. Do you have any idea what type of glue was used?
re: The Damage caused by Glues containing Solvent
Michael,
Unfortunately, I do not. I wish that I did. I bought it sometime last year on eBay. I haven't gone through that collection very carefully just did the count to determine my cost per stamp. Last night I pulled it out and stumbled onto the damage as I was breaking it down. If the collector had just used the corners to remount then I think he or she would have minimized the potential damage. But he or she used the center of the mount to place the glue.
Hawid makes a solvent free glue for remounting mounts. I will use that but I am careful to only place the glue on the top corners of the mount.
In reference to your earlier comment about Scotch tape, the other day I found a US 326 5c dark blue McKinley, Scott 2011 Catalogue value $25.00 that was in a mount that had been taped to the album page with cellophane tape. The adhesive had bled through the mount and into the stamp.
re: The Damage caused by Glues containing Solvent
Yes, I have seen many good stamps ruined with tape.....
Back in the late 1970s mounts were starting to catch on with people. The glue on the back of the strips wasn't all that great and the mounts often fell off the pages. Showgard made a tube of glue to re-attach the mounts. I bought one and used it on quite a few mounts. That glue had a high acid base and it didn't take long before the album pages began to turn brown at the location where the glue was. I had to buy a couple of new albums because of that as I didn't want that to spread. I know that the glue for the mounts is still out there, so be careful if you run across one of the older tubes. I would hope that by now Showgard and Hawid (same thing) remounting glue is acid free.
re: The Damage caused by Glues containing Solvent
I have used "Elmer's School Glue" to remount mounts. I never thought to check and see if the glue is harmful. The label says "safe, non-toxic"; although we all that manufacturers are in the business of promoting their product, often in egregious conflict with the truth, I do not remember ever seeing this type glue cause problems. It does say not for use on photos. Any thoughts?
re: The Damage caused by Glues containing Solvent
Bobby the old Elmers glue has caused discoloring on some paper. I am not sure about the newer formula but I can tell you for certain the old Elmers caused problems. Avery sells a glue stick that is acid free and can be used on paper, photos etc. Unless the glue says it is acid free and safe for paper don't use it.
The real question is how will the glue react to the mount and the paper. Since the glue on my Prinz mounts is saliva activated I would stick with a water based product. I have seen glue pens offered specifically for mounts advertised but haven't tried one.
re: The Damage caused by Glues containing Solvent
I doubt there is any toxins in it since it is intended for children to use. Probably is relatively acid neutral too, but I don't know that for sure. I do know, however, that Elmer's glue does not stick well to plastic. Model railroaders use Elmer's Glue to attach items to model railroad layouts like buildings and tress so that they can be easily removed if needed. That way the plastic building or tree is not broken when removed from the layout. With that in mind, I'm not sure how well Elmer's glue will stick to a plastic mount. If you do try it, make sure that you only apply a very thing amount of glue to the back of the mount. Too much, and the water based glue will soak through to the back of the page. If you have stamps on the back of the page, could cause some damage. If you put it on rather heavy, it could soak through to the next page too and mess things up there too.
Whenever trying something with stamps, it is always best to find junky stamps and junky pages for the experiment. If something goes wrong, you just toss the mess away with no harm done. You wouldn't want to experiment on a $5 Columbian!
re: The Damage caused by Glues containing Solvent
The Hawid glue pens only work on mounts. They are really designed to close the mount. Believe me I have tried to use the pen to stick mounts. The Hawid tube is designed for remounting mounts to the album page. I have only used it a couple of times, but have noticed any damage.
Saliva is acidic so one needs to be somewhat careful with their spit. I try to only lick the upper part of the mount. It would be nice if Hawid and Showgard (Vidi forms) would start using 'Post-it' style glue. That way one can peel the mount away from the album page without damage.
re: The Damage caused by Glues containing Solvent
I hear on that about wanting to be able to peel the mounts off the album pages without ripping the crud out of the pages. I find that the glue used on Prinz/Scott mounts is not as destructive when removing the mount. Often the glue peels off the mount as the mount is pulled off the page.
You do mention one important thing. Only moisten the top part of the mount. I have seen collections where the mounts were stuck down to the page with the mount having been moistened on both halves. The result is a line of water damage across the middle of the gum of the stamp. Kills the value right then and there.
re: The Damage caused by Glues containing Solvent
To avoid the potential for water damage that michael78651 mentions above, I first affix the mount in the album and then insert the stamp after the mount has dried (even though I only apply moisture sparingly).
As to glue with solvent, I once tried to reattach a piece of a hearing aid that had broken off with super glue -- it dissolved the plastic that it came into contact with.