Actually Steve...I am fairly new at collecting but I too have tried this [and it is 'soaking' under hot water for 20 seconds, not holding it under hot water for 20 seconds ] and it works marvelously friend!
It works because rather than soften the gum it just makes the 'piece' more removable by softening it. Sometimes so successfully that the stamp can then be attached to another piece if required, proving that the gum has remained. many philatelists make the mistake of thinking that the object is to remove the stamp, when it is in fact to remove what it is attached to.
you are spoiling the mystique of stamp collecting now!! ha ha ha Everyone knows that mere water could not soak stamps of manila envelopes. You need the sort of formula that alchemists have searched for since time began......
If you can soak a self adhesive stamp off a envelope in 20 seconds using hot water then you are a miracle worker, the adhesive used is Rubber based and not water soluble now I see that you disbelive what I am saying so why not just try to read up on it?
I am joking around a bit here but do not take this lightly. I have only recently started using lighter fluid to remove self-adhesives but I too have stopped this for the same reasons you mention above. I have to have too much fluid out for too long a time period to soak. I will leave this for the spring. I have an office window that I purposely did not put the storm window into this winter so that I could occasionally open it to circulate fresh air when watermarking stamps, however. Just a crack so as not to blow stamps around the room... I don't have a lot of success watermarking with light or water...I have been using the same methods for years...any suggestions to effectively see watermarks that don't involve chemicals?
I've never really gotten into watermark detection. Somewhere I have a little black watermark tray, and I know I've got a bottle of watermark detection fluid on my bookcase. I'll bet I haven't tried to do any watermarking in over 20 years. Maybe someday I'll have to get serious about it if I ever felt the need to accurately catalog and then fill in the spaces in my Washington series (early 1900's)
Darrin it is a myth that one is trying to remove the stamp from the envelope. All you need to do is remove the 'envelope' from the 'stamp' hot water for 20 seconds softens the manila and the stamp just slides off. No bother just simple physics. Paper is water soluble.
To spot watermarks you just need strong natural light, hold the stamp face down under the sunshine once again simple physics. When watermarking was introduced it was designed to be 'visible' not invisible. if you cannot see it this way the back of your stamp still has some envelope remnant blocking the view, so back in the hot water we go.
Another danger of stamp collecting is that you end up Lolly Gagging all over the internet. This involves messaging people and typing LOL needlessly at every end and turn, if you truly are laughing out loud at every end and turn you are probably under the influence of something stranger than stamps. [smiling ironically, which is not Lolly Gagging]
I never said I did not believe you Steve...I was merely trying to tell you that based on my experience, I have tried the soaking method....and it worked for me. Miracle worker...yes, they do not call me Lady_Asana for nothing eh? [all in fun]
