Soaking Stamps

There seems to be an ongoing thread(s) about soaking and drying
stamps. Therefore, I will put in my 2 cents worth. I did send this to
the Glassine Surfer for inclusion in his how to section.

I have a suggestion that you may want to use regarding soaking stamps.
I do not soak a lot of stamps but the following works for me.

I bought a plastic shoe box at a local store. I used the deep bottom
of the box. On one long side of the plastic box I put 4 small holes
about 5/16 inch down from the top. I tried a half inch on one box but
it was too far down. Do not make the holes too big. I hand drilled
them about 1/8 inch. I put a piece of wood behind the side I was
drilling and got nice clean holes. I guess you could also use a big
hot nail but the plastic may melt more than you want and the holes
will be ragged. I just held the drill bit in my hand and drilled them
manually as the plastic is soft enough to do it this way. You could
also drill holes on both sides of the box but one side seems adequate.

When I soak stamps, I fill the box with water, put in the stamps, and
then let a stream of water run into the box. Any gummy or dirty water
runs out the holes and I always have "fresh" water in the box. Also,
because the box water is being "stirred", any gum residue on the
stamps tends to be washed away. The water action also helps to gently
loosen any attached paper and hinge remnants.

I used to do photography and based this on rinsing developer from
prints by using a tray and running water.

Jerry Bodoff

From: (Jerry Bodoff)
Organization: http://groups.google.com
Newsgroups: rec.collecting.stamps.discuss
Date: 10 Oct 2003 03:53:56 -0700
Subject: Soaking Stamps

There seems to be an ongoing thread(s) about soaking and drying
stamps. Therefore, I will put in my 2 cents worth. I did send this to
the Glassine Surfer for inclusion in his how to section.

I have a suggestion that you may want to use regarding soaking stamps.
I do not soak a lot of stamps but the following works for me.

I bought a plastic shoe box at a local store. I used the deep bottom
of the box. On one long side of the plastic box I put 4 small holes
about 5/16 inch down from the top. I tried a half inch on one box but
it was too far down. Do not make the holes too big. I hand drilled
them about 1/8 inch. I put a piece of wood behind the side I was
drilling and got nice clean holes. I guess you could also use a big
hot nail but the plastic may melt more than you want and the holes
will be ragged. I just held the drill bit in my hand and drilled them
manually as the plastic is soft enough to do it this way. You could
also drill holes on both sides of the box but one side seems adequate.

When I soak stamps, I fill the box with water, put in the stamps, and
then let a stream of water run into the box. Any gummy or dirty water
runs out the holes and I always have "fresh" water in the box. Also,
because the box water is being "stirred", any gum residue on the
stamps tends to be washed away. The water action also helps to gently
loosen any attached paper and hinge remnants.

I used to do photography and based this on rinsing developer from
prints by using a tray and running water.

Actually, it's not developer you were rinsing from the prints, but fixer.
Anyway, your advice is interesting and certainly worth trying. Have you had
trouble with the holes getting blocked? Also, I wonder if it would be worth
drilling some holes in the bottom; some of the gunkiest water might well
sink.

Bob

Bob Ingraham wrote in message ...
From: (Jerry Bodoff)
Organization: http://groups.google.com
Newsgroups: rec.collecting.stamps.discuss
Date: 10 Oct 2003 03:53:56 -0700
Subject: Soaking Stamps

There seems to be an ongoing thread(s) about soaking and drying
stamps. Therefore, I will put in my 2 cents worth. I did send this to
the Glassine Surfer for inclusion in his how to section.

I have a suggestion that you may want to use regarding soaking stamps.
I do not soak a lot of stamps but the following works for me.

I bought a plastic shoe box at a local store. I used the deep bottom
of the box. On one long side of the plastic box I put 4 small holes
about 5/16 inch down from the top. I tried a half inch on one box but
it was too far down. Do not make the holes too big. I hand drilled
them about 1/8 inch. I put a piece of wood behind the side I was
drilling and got nice clean holes. I guess you could also use a big
hot nail but the plastic may melt more than you want and the holes
will be ragged. I just held the drill bit in my hand and drilled them
manually as the plastic is soft enough to do it this way. You could
also drill holes on both sides of the box but one side seems adequate.

When I soak stamps, I fill the box with water, put in the stamps, and
then let a stream of water run into the box. Any gummy or dirty water
runs out the holes and I always have "fresh" water in the box. Also,
because the box water is being "stirred", any gum residue on the
stamps tends to be washed away. The water action also helps to gently
loosen any attached paper and hinge remnants.

I used to do photography and based this on rinsing developer from
prints by using a tray and running water.

Actually, it's not developer you were rinsing from the prints, but fixer.
Anyway, your advice is interesting and certainly worth trying. Have you had
trouble with the holes getting blocked? Also, I wonder if it would be worth
drilling some holes in the bottom; some of the gunkiest water might well
sink.

Bob

Bob Ingram

The only things that block the holes are floating hinge remnants.
That is easily taken care of. I never thought of putting holes on the
bottom. I would think that with that many holes the water would run
out too fast.

Jerry

From: (Jerry Bodoff)
Organization: http://groups.google.com
Newsgroups: rec.collecting.stamps.discuss
Date: 10 Oct 2003 22:40:34 -0700
Subject: Soaking Stamps

Actually, it's not developer you were rinsing from the prints, but fixer.
Anyway, your advice is interesting and certainly worth trying. Have you had
trouble with the holes getting blocked? Also, I wonder if it would be worth
drilling some holes in the bottom; some of the gunkiest water might well
sink.

Bob

Bob Ingram

The only things that block the holes are floating hinge remnants.
That is easily taken care of. I never thought of putting holes on the
bottom. I would think that with that many holes the water would run
out too fast.

Jerry

I used to wash prints up to 8X10 in a print tray which had five 1/8" holes
drilled across one end at the bottom, and four or five holes across the
bottom in more or less random positions. A stream of water running into the
tray opposite the holes could be controlled to keep just the right amount of
water in the tray. (Later on I did a test with food dye and discovered a few
areas of "dead water". I drilled small holes in the bottom of the tray in
those locations, too.)

Bob