Thanks so much for watching Ms. Cleary

Prior to my adoption of drying on paper grocery bags, I was using a art pad of water color paper. very thick and absorbent. It probably worked similar to your stamp drying book. I still have it but have not used it recently.

@@PostalPleasures The big thing about the drying book is that you lay the stamps face up on the pages. They're specially treated so they repel all known stamp adhesives. Opposite the shiny page is a page of heavy blotting paper. So you soak the stamps, lay them face up on the page, close the book tight, and wait a few hours. Most of the stamps just fall out after drying, but a few you may have to put tongues under them. Nothing sticks. It's honestly the best tool I added since I bought tongs.

Interesting, I may have to see if I can find a drying book.

@@z.l.burington1183 I have never used one, do they work ?

@@stampcollector0452 Yes, they do! I'm not having any trouble getting the stamps off the page after drying, and they dry fast. One complaint I have is that the blotting paper tends to get warped from wetting drying and rewetting over time, but if the stamps aren't perfectly flat I can always press them between a couple books after they're dry.

I have read about using lighter fluid as a stamp lift fluid, I keep a bottle of Ronsonol at my desk for detecting stubborn watermarks but haven't tried it to remove stamps from paper yet. Thanks for sharing your tips.

I would like to offer an additional step 3.5 after lifting stamp off paper, and before drying. Lay damp stamp face down on paper towel working from a stiff table top surface, and use an old credit card edge and lightly scrap (squeegee) the gooey adhesive from center to outer stamp edge. Then air dry.

@@Emperor-Wild-Man Thanks, I don't generally have too much extra gum so I have not had to do this but if I ever do I will give it a try.

Self adhesive stamps and removal from paper or packaging...... use hand sanitizer, probably much easier and less expensive unless there’s an pandemic 😷. 6-24-2021 ( why aren’t comments dated❓ Put a date, collectors )

Another option if you don't want to mess with Bestine, etc., is to use a spritz of pure citrus on the back of self-adhesive stamps. The paper will release in seconds, allowing you to either use a scraper to remove the residual adhesive (some people use credit card edges) or apply baby powder with an oral syringe dispenser to evenly apply the powder onto the adhesive side, which will minimize the mess. It takes patience and is a little time-consuming. I use unscented powder to limit the amount of oils, but some will argue that there is still a degree of oil in the powder that can damage the stamps in the long run. So far, so good. I'd only recommend doing this for a limited number of stamps, particularly if you collect used U.S. and want to have one of each in your album.

Thats great. If you ever have any questions please feel free to ask. I am always happy to help if I am able.

Thanks for watching. Glad the video was helpful.

Jason, are we related?

Yes I have heard that some use detergent as well, I have not tried it either.

I've been soaking stamps lately in hot water with a tiny drop of dishwashing liquid, and then dipping the soaked stamps in clear, cool water to rinse. Seems to be an improvement over my previous method of a single bowl of tepid water.

Yes, one by one in cool water. Float face down on the water not in the water and remove ASAP. Peel the stamp off if you can to get done sooner