Not washing stamps??????

[beegirl]

Here's the story. I bought an adorable stamp off of ebay the other day and when it arrived I was a little taken back. It was caked in ink. The stamp and the wood mount. Showed to my partner Rick and said, wow was this guy was well loved. Then I thought to myself maybe I can get a little of the ink off. To my total surprise all the ink came off the stamp and most off the wood. So my question is why do some stampers never clean there stamps?? And if you were going to sell a stamp wouldn't you clean it before you sold it?? I have to admit that I am a little intense about keeping my stamps clean but I don't get insane if there is some staining. To me is just shows that they have been well loved. But to not clean a stamp at all is foreign to me.

What do you all think?:confused:

[Stamping Grandma]

I can't imagine why someone wouldn't clean a stamp. I might not clean it immediatly but I always clean my stamps the same day I use them.

[jackie1]

I am compulsive about cleaning my stamps, I have even cought myself cleaning a stamp between uses and I am using it over and over and usually with the same ink pad. I don't think I could go to sleep at night if I didn't clean one of my stamps. They have cost alot of money and I would hate to have them get recked because I can't take the two seconds out of my stamping time to clean them up so they are ready for the next time I need them. I am glad that you were able to get your new stamp cleaned up so you can use it, maybe any one that selles stamps on eBay should read this and take the couple of seconds to clean there stamps off before selling them.

[uberadam]

me personally i am lazy. i have sold my used personal stamps both on ebay and off my web page, but i put a disclaimer that they are used and are not cleaned so the person buying them knows upfront. when i stamp now, i at least stamp off on scrap paper but you'll find lots of my own stamps that i don't clean unless i need to for changing colors. i mostly stamp with black ink to index.

[karcher70]

Wow, I clean mine immediately...sometimes even in between stamping images! Am I just a neat freak? :rolleyes:

[momofour26]

I can't imagine leaving a stamp dirty. Such beautiful stamps deserve loving care. I would be worried to about the life of the stamp if it has ink on it I think cracking might occur over time. I also agree on taking care of something you spend lots of money on.

I have seen stamps dirty and my SU cleaner has taken off old stains.

Glad you got the stains off!!

[loramarie03]

Quote:

Originally Posted by karcher70

Wow, I clean mine immediately...sometimes even in between stamping images! Am I just a neat freak? :rolleyes:

I'm the same way!

[navybrat75]

I'm not a neat freak by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, you would break your imagination if you tried to stretch it far enought o call me a neat freak, lol. But I ALWAYS clean my stamps as soon as I'm done with them. I don't want to have to clean a stamp before I can use it, when inspiration hits I want everything to be ready! Not too mention I would never remember what color I used last and end up with some funky color mixing, and ruin a stamp pad like barely banana because the last color will have been ballet blue or something like that.

[beegirl]

Exactly my thought. If you stamped/dipped into another color you would contaminate the different ink pad. Besides the cross contamination, there is no conditioning to keep your stamps nice. I guess we are all different.

[piedpipurr]

I've only been stamping for about 6 months but I have learned so much from SCS about how to clean and care for my stamps. The funny thing is that I recently found a stamp I had bought a couple of years ago that I wanted to make some tags with. I didn't know any better and never cleaned it. I went to work on it and cleaned it up real well. It stamps like a new stamp now.

[durhamzoo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by karcher70

Wow, I clean mine immediately...sometimes even in between stamping images! Am I just a neat freak? :rolleyes:

Me, too! I think I clean them as much as I stamp with them.

[der5van2]

I have received many many sets that have not been cleaned. One time, I received an expensive set and the rubber was black as black could ever get. You'd think SU used new rubber(which I know was not possible since it was an older set). Anyway, I sat down ready for a couple hours of work to clean it off and with one swipe on the scrubber(doused with Awesome), I was able to see the red rubber. There was not one mention by the seller that the set was heavily stained.

Just the other day, I sent a set that I gave for free--just pay shipping--to someone and I was finding myself cleaning it and sanding the wood block to make it as pretty as possible. Someone had sold it to me but hadn't bothered to clean it.

We should feel lucky to be able to be in a hobby where we can sell something that has been used and be able to recoup most of what we paid for it and sometimes even more. The least we can do is clean it for the next person.

[Nonnastamps]

It is so simple to keep them clean not to mention they are better preserved when they are cleaned (with the cleaner) that I can't imagine not cleaning them before putting them away. Just one persons opinion.

[Shopping Diva]

If I were you, I would log on to ebay and where you give that person a review, put your thoughts and rate it. That is just unacepptable.

[Gizelabella]

I clean my stamps, but I'm not freak-ish about it. Now the wood is another story. I'm going to have to try this. I have to admit that the more "used" they look the happier I am, I feel like if they look brand new, I didn't use them enough to justify buying them. ( I have not sold any of my sets, and I have been a demo since 2000).

[karcher70]

Quote:

Originally Posted by durhamzoo

Me, too! I think I clean them as much as I stamp with them.

Maybe that's why I go through so much stamp cleaner!

On the bright side, most of my sets still look brand new!

[bksjones]

I admit I'm a little complusive about cleaning them. I don't clean if I'm stamping again in the same color, but I clean immediately after stamping, especially VersaMark, StazOn, metallics, or Basic Black or Brown. If you don't clean those inks right away it's harder to get off, although I love StazOn cleaner and keep it by my Mist. And I never put a stamp away dirty--never!

I did buy a single stamp "set" on ebay and was very surprised to get it and see that it was very dirty. The seller said it was stained and she couldn't get it clean. She had used metallic inks. I just used the trusty StazOn cleaner and everything came right off--good as new!

[Mahloumel]

I always clean my stamps after I use them so I can just grab them and use with another colour ink later that stamp session if i want to. I myself couldn't imagine not cleaning my stamps before putting them away because I couldn't stand to get ink smeared all over my beautiful stamp storage or the rest of my craft area!

[beegirl]

Good point about ink all over your storage. That would drive me crazy!!

[Cammie]

hmmm....since I was outed recently on someone's blog (..cough, cough..Mel!) so..........I will confess....I dont clean my stamps. (GASP!)
I ONLY clean them if I use a funky color and then only wipe it off. Sometimes I clean by background stamps because I am always changing the colors on them and I dont want the ink to mix....otherwise...NOPE!

Since I generally use brilliance black ink, I just let it sit....I know (a lot of you are cringing) but I actually get better images that way--with the ink providing a nice surface for more ink to stick.

That being said, IF I were ever to sell my stamps, I would clean them thorougly and also let anyone know if there are any stains.

[glenda s]

I have read that leaving ink on the rubber actually drys out the rubber of the stamp. I have been stamping for years and did not know this. I used to be compulsive about cleaning but have become less so. Now, I am trying to go back to my complusive cleaning habit.

Glenda

[uberadam]

as a stamp manufacturer for almost 20 years, ive never had problems not cleaning my stamps off right away. never has any stamp that is "dirty" not worked or stamped. and i use fabrico on my indexing. the stamps i clean more often are my side index stamps with the company name, they are tiny and seem to gum up more than any other stamp does.

am trying to make more time to stamp, i miss doing that more often. when i would demo at shows its not the same as making cards. i would save what i demo'd cuz some day i would make them into a card LOL that someday hasn't come yet!

[Anemone]

I'm not compulsive about cleaning my stamps, especially if I'm doing a whole bunch of cards at once. However, when I'm done stamping, I would never put my stamps away without cleaning. The only exception is I sometimes forget to clean my copyright stamps that I use on the back of cards.

[ebethneu]

I usually clean them, but like Cammie I tend to use black on 90% of my stamps so I don't see the point, more time to stamp since I'm not cleaning them!

I gave all my SU sets to my 4 year old who loves to stamp with COLOR and she has her own set of copics which she uses to color directly onto the rubber. It actually makes me really happy to see how much fun she has with it and how colorful the stamps are.

[RiverIsis]

Well, what I would say is that the seller may not be the stamper - they may be in charge of selling on for a variety or reasons (illness, death etc) and therefore cleaning the set may not have been a priority (nor known to be expected).

Also back in the day when I actually carved linoleum and stamped with that we just cleaned off by wiping off the excess. So, many old style stampers may not be onto the cleaning frenzy.

Also I have met many artists who would not stop their creativity to clean their brushes, stamps etc. Its not on their agenda.

Just wanted to put this out there for all the obsessive cleaners out there that stamping used to be a way to get messy! :lol:

[dacpam]

Is there a difference between cleaning stamps and getting the stains out?

I always "clean" my stamps as soon as I finish the stamping.

However, many of my stamps, especially outline stamps, are stained because of usage with black ink. This bothers me not one bit!

I don't mind the staining but do keep them clean. And as for the blocks, I could care less if they have ink stains on them! It does not effect the image and I would rather spend my time stamping and creating than sealing the blocks and keeping them perfect!

You know what is rather weird about this? If you saw my craft room, everything is put away and very neat (OK most of the time) I am much more obsessive about that!

So here's to my stained, but clean, stamps!

[cjbapp]

Along these lines....
When you sell a retired set on Ebay, you get a lot more if you have a photo of the rubber side of the set! I always get more than most similar auctions have ended for by showing the back sides.

Staining really isn't an issue, but at least people seem to like to know that it's at least clean.

I often buy (garage sales & craigslist) and resell on Ebay and just a little cleaning goes a long way for some of those really bad ones!

[ilinacrouse]

Quote:

Originally Posted by beegirl

Here's the story. I bought an adorable stamp off of ebay the other day and when it arrived I was a little taken back. It was caked in ink. The stamp and the wood mount. Showed to my partner Rick and said, wow was this guy was well loved. Then I thought to myself maybe I can get a little of the ink off. To my total surprise all the ink came off the stamp and most off the wood. So my question is why do some stampers never clean there stamps?? And if you were going to sell a stamp wouldn't you clean it before you sold it?? I have to admit that I am a little intense about keeping my stamps clean but I don't get insane if there is some staining. To me is just shows that they have been well loved. But to not clean a stamp at all is foreign to me.

What do you all think?:confused:

The same has happened to me with a set I got from eBay, I just scrubbed it a little with stamp cleaner and staz-on cleaner and the stains and ink came off. I still need to figure out how to clean the wood.
I like my stamps nice and clean and always I am careful to not stain the wood.

[jazzytobi]

wow... i am shocked that people don't clean their stamps.. it just never occurred to me to NOT clean a stamp! lol.. i am not a neat/organized person, but i would hate to reach into my stamp storage place and get ink on my hands.. also, with clear stamps wouldn't the ink get on all of the acetate? i also store my unmounted rubber in binders on those EZ mount sheets. ink would get EVERYWHERE!! wow.. you learn something new every day. hehehe

[wendalyn]

Sometimes I do and sometimes I don't. I don't clean my acrylic stamps as they stamp better not cleaned. I clean my rubber ones sometimes but all mine are UM so no wood to get it on.

[twinwillowsfarm]

The last stamps I bought on e-bay also arrived uncleaned. Stazon cleaner did wonders. I don't care about the wood, but it took me aback to find I'd bought dirty rubber! Wouldn't dream of selling stamps in that condition.

[tigerlily55]

Quote:

Originally Posted by glenda s

I have read that leaving ink on the rubber actually drys out the rubber of the stamp. I have been stamping for years and did not know this. I used to be compulsive about cleaning but have become less so. Now, I am trying to go back to my complusive cleaning habit.

Glenda

You have Monk as your avatar and you're weren't compulsive about cleaning?! I'm shocked ;-)

[MariLynn]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tigerlily55

You have Monk as your avatar and you're weren't compulsive about cleaning?! I'm shocked ;-)

Your observation made me smile.

I almost always stamp in black so I don't usually clean unless I am using another color.

[SmurfBE]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ebethneu

I usually clean them, but like Cammie I tend to use black on 90% of my stamps so I don't see the point, more time to stamp since I'm not cleaning them!

I gave all my SU sets to my 4 year old who loves to stamp with COLOR and she has her own set of copics which she uses to color directly onto the rubber. It actually makes me really happy to see how much fun she has with it and how colorful the stamps are.

Wow, you have all your SU sets to a child? Can I be your child? Seriously, what do you demo with if you have no stamps?

[buggainok]

Wow, I've only been cleaning them because I thought they wouldn't stamp right if I didn't. What a concept! I'm not inclined to be the compulsive cleaning type so this frees up some time for me.:mrgreen:

[beegirl]

Sometimes I do and sometimes I don't. I don't clean my acrylic stamps as they stamp better not cleaned. I clean my rubber ones sometimes but all mine are UM so no wood to get it on.

I had never heard that the acrylic stamps were better when not cleaned. Why would they stamp better dirty??

[dmaggt]

In one of Tim Holz' instructional CD's, he said he never cleans his stamps. I clean mine, but just to let you know there are people that don't.

[jimandbeth1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by uberadam

i mostly stamp with black ink to index.

LOL, it seems lately most of my stamping is just to index too!! sorry, I just found this hilarious!

[SmurfBE]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sharlene Wale

Wow, you have all your SU sets to a child? Can I be your child? Seriously, what do you demo with if you have no stamps?

Grrrrr, proofread, Sharlene! That was suppose to be "gave".

[stamphappy1650]

I'm mixed on cleaning.

If I'm using a stamp multiple times in a project, I don't clean it until I'm finished using it othewise, if used once I'll clean it right away.

If I'm not in the mood for cleaning or in production mode and the medium is not paint, I have a basket where I put stamps to be cleaned before they are put away. I never put away "dirty" stamps.

I no longer care if my stamps are stained. I view them the way Tim H. and other pros with whom I've taken classes, they are tools. I keep my stamps in a sealed boxes, inside drawers, out of sun. If they are stained it just shows how well used and well loved they are.

Whenever I see stamp/craft rooms and they have their stamps displayed on a shelf I wonder why? Yes, they look cool but my-oh-my how fast the rubber will dry out. To me it is more of a sin to display stamps on an open shelf then it is to have some stains.

And don't get me started on clear stamps that the mfg. says "won't stain" BAH. In fact, I bought a PTI set that is so small I can't read the stamp, I inked the whole set with Stazon and let it dry. Now I can see the image - yes, stains can be your friend.