Removing Self-Adhesive Stamps from Paper — Our Readers comment

In the October issue of The American Philatelist we published a guest column by Peter Butler, titled “It’s Like Magic: Removing Self- Adhesive Stamps from Paper” (page 910). The column discussed the use of the solvent Bestine and an air freshener marketed as Pure Citrus to remove self-adhesive gum from U.S. postage stamps. A number of our readers (many of them chemists by profession) wrote to offer additional suggestions and cautions for the use of these materials.

Magic Indeed it a try. In recommending “Bestine,” I ture, when proper portions are com- Thank you for the article on Bestine had tested a number of substances and bined, which can be ignited with such (Peter Butler, “It’s Like Magic: Removing found that most of them, although they a simple ignition source as a static elec- Self-Adhesive Stamps from Paper, Octo- removed the stamp, contained material tricity spark. Mineral spirits is a safer, ber AP, page 910). It is indeed “magic.” that did not evaporate and could thus equally effective, and less costly alterna- I use a child’s paint brush to “paint” the leave a residue in the stamp. I have now tive. Bestine onto the paper and wait ten sec- tested “Pure Citrus” and found that, like Limonene (the d- or D- just tells a onds, then I can peel the stamp off the “Bestine,” it leaves no detectable residue. chemist about configuration and has paper. I dust with talcum and the stamp It does take a bit longer to evaporate but nothing to do with adhesive-removal is ready to be mounted in my album. it appears to me to be every bit as good. utility) should also be effective because Thanks again. The slower evaporation rate might even of its chemical nature. An advantage Jim Clougherty be an advantage in removing multiple for limonene is probably odor. A disad- South Park, Pennsylvania stamps because I have found that the vantage is cost. Limonene is similar to Bestine evaporates so fast that I have had mineral spirits in flammability charac- Fruitful Letter to make multiple applications on large teristics and, therefore, safer to use than I was delighted to see Peter Butler’s pieces. Now all that remains is for some heptane. Both will burn but not as read- article in the October AP and have the enterprising individual to patent and ily as heptane. satisfaction of seeing that my letter to package these substances, give the prod- All three compounds are hydrocar- the editor of two years ago is bearing uct a clever name, and reap financial re- bons and present similar health hazards. fruit. That being said, I want to offer two wards that Peter and I will never see. The flammability hazards are a differ- small quibbles with the article and add a William P. Winter ence. The preferred place to use any of comment on the “Pure Citrus” method. Silver Spring, Maryland these compounds is outside where there First of all, Peter says that “Bestine” con- is plenty of ventilation and no ignition tains heptane. That’s not quite true — it Orange Solvent source. doesn’t contain heptane, it is heptane. I just read Peter Butler’s article about If you have respiratory and/or der- There is no other ingredient. The second removing self-adhesive stamps. I am a matological problems, you should avoid is his allegation that old-time watermark dentist and we use a liquid called orange all three. And all are about equally bad fluids contained benzene. In truth, they solvent, $9.29 a quart. in eyes. contained benzine — a very different Rubbing a little on the back of an Basically, you are trying to separate chemical. Benzine (spelled with an “i”) envelope with a Q-tip will release the a sandwich into its three components is an old name for a light hydrocarbon stamp before you can turn the item over, when you try to remove the adhesive. fraction that is chemically very similar and the sticky stuff is gone also. The stamp, the adhesive layer and the to heptane (Bestine). It has none of the Russell Bradley substrate, such as an envelope, are the dangerous properties of benzene but be- Bryan, Texas three components. The adhesive is at- cause of the similarity in names, it was tached most firmly to the stamp, so the confused by non-chemists with benzene Heptane Not Recommended adhesive-to-envelope bond is broken and such watermark fluids got a bad rep- I do not recommend the use of hep- most easily. Some solvolytic action may utation and a bum rap. tane — Bestine is 100% heptane — in a be involved, but it is probably more Secondly, after reading Peter’s article, home or any enclosed area. Vaporized bond disruption than actually dissolving I bought a can of “Pure Citrus” to give heptane and air form an explosive mix- much adhesive.

1106 American Philatelist / December 2010 I take a piece of paper towel roughly two inches square, hold it with tweezers and saturate it with mineral spirits. I then Don’t Soak saturate the face of the stamp with min- My experience with Bestine over eral spirits from the towel and then satu- a year ago suggests a word of warn- rate the inside of the envelope where the ing regarding its use, as advocated in stamp is. I continue to rub mineral spir- Peter Butler’s article. I have not tried its from the towel onto the inside of the his method of using just a few drops envelope until opaque white areas disap- of Bestine; I simply submerged several pear, normally a matter of seconds. The test stamps in it, with disastrous re- stamp can now be removed from the en- sults to the following issues: velope with stamp tongs if you use care. 3750 2¢ Navajo Necklace I rub the back of the stamp with the 3752 2¢ Navajo Necklace mineral spirits saturated paper towel 3792a (25¢) Eagle until I push all of the adhesive from the 3980 39¢ Flag back of the stamp. You can use an ad- 4113–4116 Snowflake ATM ditional piece of paper towel with ad- 4192–4195 41¢ Disney ditional mineral spirits if any adhesive 4215–4218 41¢ Christmas Knits remains. I take another fresh piece of ATM paper towel to ensure that all traces of 4221 41¢ Chinese New Year adhesive are removed. I allow the stamp 4224–4227 Scientists to air dry, usually overnight if I am not A few examples are enclosed. On in a hurry. a more positive side, Bestine did not A stamp on cardboard will take lon- harm the current Forever issues 4126d ger since the mineral spirits must pen- and 4437, nor the Western Movie he- etrate through the cardboard to the ad- roes. When trying Bestine, I would hesive. Corrugated cardboard takes even urge readers to test a disposable ex- longer, unless you removed the corrugat- ample of each issue first. ed section before using mineral spirits. John D. Alden I suggest treating probably no more Delmar, New York than half-a-dozen stamps at one time because you will inevitably get mineral spirits on your fingers. And you should avoid prolonged and repeated contact closest compound to a universal solvent New York City.) with mineral spirits. You should wash is water. And carbon tetrachloride was 2) Pure Citrus is distributed by affected skin areas promptly with soap- used in home fire extinguishers many the Blue Magic Inc. of Conroe Texas and-water and then rejuvenate your skin years ago. 77307. Company telephone number is: with hand lotion. Incidentally, I am a retired Ph.D. or- 1-888-522-2746. It has a UPC Code of: You can wear gloves, but you must ganic chemist. I have collected stamps 7954222201. This may help those not use expensive, hydrocarbon-resistant since grade or high school and my inter- close to suppliers of these kinds of items. gloves. The ordinary gloves that you est continues. Lawrence A. Daly might use for dishwashing or other types R. T. Stiehl Newton, New Jersey of water exposure are degraded by hy- Waynesboro, Virginia drocarbons and, therefore, provide no Talc Caution protection. They become a hazard in- Sourcing Solvents It was a fascinating article on the stead. As a follow-up to Peter Butler’s ar- use of Bestine and Pure Citrus by Pe- The 1974 Christmas stamp, Scott ticle in the October 2010 issue of The ter Butler in the October 2010 issue of 1552, discolored in twenty-three years American Philatelist, I thought I might the AP. Actually, I had come across the or less because of adhesive degradation. provide some information regarding the technique four years ago and found that Scott 2431 (1989) and 2475 (1990) that two important solvent materiels men- many organic solvents can be used — I have on cover still appear sound. Per- tioned by Mr. Butler, in case others have benzene, petroleum distillates, water haps effective stabilizers were used in the problems locating and purchasing them mark fluid, naphtha, hexane — though pressure sensitive adhesives at that time. (like myself). I had not tried Pure Citrus or Bestine, However, I plan to continue to watch 1) Bestine is packaged by the Union the latter being heptane. A quite useful those issues for signs of adhesive degra- Rubber Inc. of Trenton New Jersey technique. dation. But I would not hesitate to re- 08606. The company’s telephone number However, I wish to give a cautionary move the adhesive completely from used is: 1-800-334-8219. It has a UPC code of: note with Talc and its use to eliminate the copies of stamps that are not on cover 8966500238. (I finally found it available sticky residual acrylic copolymer adhe- just to be sure. at LEE’s Art Supply, on 57th Street, half a sive that remains after the Bestine evapo- Not all solvents are flammable. The block west of Carnegie Hall, Manhattan, rates. Initially, the use of a small amount

December 2010 / American Philatelist 1107 SAFETY is critical. All of the listed effective compounds products should be equally effective. It looks like all you need is a colorless (so are flammable liquid hydrocarbons. They must be kept far it won’t stain your stamps) hydrocarbon away from flames and other hot objects, especially during or hydrocarbon mixture. Lower boiling points (such as the 100ºC for heptane/ the drying (evaporation) stage. And the vapors are heavier Bestine) give faster drying but are more than air, so space heaters are a serious concern. dangerous. Higher boiling points (such as the 176ºC for d-limonene/Pure Cit- rus) give slower drying but are less flam- of talc does indeed eliminate the sticki- them and they work just as he wrote. A mable. In-between products include ness, but when stamps are then hinged less expensive source of a suitable sol- pure compounds like toluene and xylene and mounted in an album and subject vent is mineral spirits. This is a mixture and mixtures like turpentine and VM&P to the light but constant pressure that is of hydrocarbons having a boiling range naphtha. You should find a few such on them within an album or a stockbook or evaporation rate that is in the same products at any store with a full selec- for that matter, the acrylic’s adhesiveness range as the other mentioned products. tion of paints — whether arts & crafts or will return and the stamp will be stuck to Odorless mineral spirits is available at hardware. the page or the stockbook pocket. I be- any paint store or paint department, at Harry V. Ellis III lieve what happens is that the adhesive a very reasonable price. If you don’t want Chicago, Illinois very slowly travels and spreads over the to buy a gallon at a time, try charcoal Highly Flammable previously attached talc particles. starter fluid. This is mineral spirits used With reference to the Guest Editorial The return of the stickiness is cu- to light charcoal briquettes. column by Peter Butler in the October mulative with time and not every stamp As pointed out, these solvents are issue, “Bestine” is highly flammable and will display it, but most do and if it oc- flammable and should only be used in a toxic. Sometime it pays to check things curs, the result is obviously problemati- well-ventilated place. I place my stamps out. See the Bestine Solvent & Thin- cal. I have not been able to eliminate this in a wide-mouth jar to soak and then go ner Safety Data Sheet at the Ohio State problem other than using the technique outside to peel the stamps from their pa- University’s College of Biological Sci- also described in this article to remove per backing. The stamps are placed face ence Safety Page (www.biosci.ohio-state. the adhesive from the back of the stamp down on a clean paper towel to dry. edu/safety/MSDS/BESTINE%20SOL- with a pencil eraser while the stamp is Max Statman P.E. VENT%20%26%20THINNER.htm). damp with the Bestine. Also, I would not Judson,Texas Jerry Jensen recommend placing multiple self-adhe- Bloomington, Minnesota sive stamps that had the talc treatment Safety Concerns together in the same glassine or cello- Outside of the hyperbole in the title, Not News! phane envelope — they will eventually Mr. Butler’s article on freeing self-adhe- I just wanted to mention that an ar- all stick together like mint stamps with sive stamps was very interesting to this ticle on removing self-adhesive stamp water-based gum in atmospheres of high chemist. Unfortunately, there were two gum using heptane appeared in the humidify, especially if the envelopes are major omissions. Springfield-Delco Stamp Club newslet- faced down and subject to pressure. SAFETY is critical. All of the listed ter last January. Rather than promoting Dr. Reed E. Phillips effective compounds are flammable liq- a specific product, i.e., “Bestine,” you Glen Cove, New York uid hydrocarbons. They must be kept far could have pointed out that any brand away from flames and other hot objects, of lighter fluid is also heptane or that Try Mineral Spirits especially during the drying (evapora- odorless mineral spirits is essentially the In Peter Butler’s October article, he tion) stage. And the vapors are heavier same, is much cheaper, and works better. discusses the use of “Bestine” and other than air, so space heaters are a serious G. Hulings Darby hydrocarbon solvents to remove self- concern. (Retired Chemist) adhesive stamps from paper. I’ve tried On the other hand, many other Haverford, Pennsylvania Free Stamp Trade Tips From Philatelic Professionals We want to help you save $100s, if not $1,000s over the years. Learn from our mistakes! Get free tips, visit us online at www.upastampauctions.co.uk

1108 American Philatelist / December 2010