Handling Stamps is Easy!

Dutch Stamps Nederland

Collecting stamps is a worthwhile and rewarding hobby, but once the stamps are in your collection, how do you treat them? Is there a wrong and a right way? Are there specific tools? Are there any tricks to make handling stamps easier?

The best way to pick up stamps is not to touch them at all with your skin, but to use something called stamp tongs. All they are is medium sized tweezers with flattened ends, so you can pick up the stamp more easily. Make sure the ends are flat, because if they're poorly made tweezers, you can end up doing a lot of damage to your stamps. Make sure that you put the ends on the center of the stamp, and avoid applying too much pressure so that you avoid tearing the stamp itself.

What if the stamps are still on paper? Don't fear, there's an easy way to remove them: soak the paper that the stamp is on for about ten minutes in lukewarm water. The stamp should slide right off, and then just set the stamp aside to dry for 24 hours.

There are two ways to put stamps into your album, and it depends entirely on preference: one way is in clear plastic sleeves called mounts, and the other is in an album with hinges. The mounts are just bits of plastic with adhesive on the back and are often good for beginners. Albums with hinges are a pieces of plastic with dry adhesive on the inside. They are bit harder to deal and require more work, but are usually more presentable in appearance in that you can also look at the back of the stamp while it's in your album. Mounts cost more but are better for the novice stamp collector.

So what can you do wrong? First of all, you do not want to touch the stamps with your hands. The oils in your skin can degrade the stamp over time and decrease its value and looks. Always use stamp tongs. Second, you can rip the stamps off of paper instead of soaking them off, which doesn't allow you to look at the back of the stamp, and again, may decrease its value. Third, you could store your stamps in an area that is damp, or an area with high heat. These conditions are not good for stamps and may warp or damage them over time.

Photo Credits: Smabs Sputzer

Originally posted 2010-08-17 03:45:52.

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