Soaking Self-adhesive Australian Stamps Off Paper

How To Soak Self-adhesive Postage Stamps

How to soak self-adhesive postage stamps is a question I often hear beginning collectors ask. A self-adhesive postage stamp is a stamp with a pressure sensitive adhesive. They do not require moistening in order to adhere to paper. Self adhesive postage stamps usually have a backing paper that can be soaked and removed.

I have noticed stamp collectors on some stamp collecting groups asking for information on how to soak self adhesive postage stamps from paper. I have noticed a few other collectors suggesting that to soak self adhesive postage stamps is very difficult, if not impossible. I do note that there are certain self-adhesive stamps from around the world that are impossible to soak, but that is not my experience with Australian stamps.

In response, I have written this article with instructions about how to soak and remove large amounts of self-adhesive postage stamps without damaging them. I have just spent the last 6 weeks removing many thousands of used self adhesive Australian stamps with my 18 year old son, with very satisfactory and almost flawless results. A very small amount of stamps do get damaged in the attempt to get them off, and these I discard instantly so as to move on to the next stamp.

1. Sort your stamps ready for soaking. Remember to separate any stamps that are on coloured paper as the dyes can transfer onto your stamps. Any amount up to about 30 grams at a time seems to work fairly well with this method.

2. Place your stamps face-up in a large container of clean room temperature water. (Water any warmer than room temperature appears to make the self-adhesive stamp paper softer and a bit more difficult to work with). Spread 1 layer and gently submerge them under water with your fingers to get them wet. Repeat until you have put all your chosen stamps in the water. Leave soaking for between 1/2 to 1 hour. Place two more containers next to the first. One filled with clean water to drop the removed stamps into, and another empty for the leftover scraps of paper.

3. The trick to getting self adhesive stamps off paper intact is to gently prise the paper slowly back from the corner of the stamp. You take the paper from the stamp and not the stamp from the paper. Be very careful not to bend the stamp's corner.

4. Pick up 1 stamp at a time and place face down on your extended index and middle finger on your other hand. Gently peel back a corner of the paper, keeping the stamp perfectly straight. If the paper starts to separate from the stamp, you can continue peeling the paper away from the stamp until it is removed and drop into the clean container of water. At the slightest resistance, drop the stamp back in the soak water for a bit longer.

5. You will usually find that stamps that are returned to the water can be processed quite easily after about another 15 minutes. Stamps with a bit of glue left on them can be finished by gently rolling the glue towards the outside edge of the perforations.

6. When all the stamps are removed, carefully place the stamps, one at a time, face-up onto a towel spread out on a table. You can gently pick up about a dozen at a time, and slide the individual stamps neatly into place. Leave to dry until no beads of water are left visible on any of the stamps.

7. Lay the stamps out in single layers between several pages of a large heavy book, taking care when closing very slowly not to damage stamp corners. Weigh your book down and leave to press for a couple of days, or weeks.

8. You should now have some very nice flat self adhesive stamps off paper ready to add to your collection.

Happy Stamping

kerryduck@harboursat.com.au