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I find the homemade stamp cleaning solution recipe around here on SCS works pretty well. HERE IS the link. I agree that pigment ink is one of the hardest to clean off. I give mine a wipe with a baby wipe, then use the stamp cleaner and give them a scrub with an old toothbrush.
What silverwolf said. Also, clear stamps are going to stain - you're never going to be able to keep them perfectly clear unless you never use them. LOL
I find the homemade stamp cleaning solution recipe around here on SCS works pretty well. HERE IS the link. I agree that pigment ink is one of the hardest to clean off. I give mine a wipe with a baby wipe, then use the stamp cleaner and give them a scrub with an old toothbrush.
I've used an old toothbrush and regular soap and water for 20+ years of stamping (on the wood ones, too). Works perfect and have never had a stamp ruined. Save your craft money for better things and skip buying cleaners. Not needed.
My daughter bought some stamps on-line that turned out to be in pretty bad shape with ink and who knows what on them. We used Avon's Skin-so-soft and a toothbrush (only because stuff was so caked on). It worked really well and conditioned the rubber. But this was on rubber stamps. I'm not sure about clear cling stamps.
Best of luck
__________________ Donna T My moto for 2017...Do what you need to do. Count what you want to count. Enjoy the process.
Another great money saver for stamp cleaning: Those expensive scrubby pads you can buy? No different to the painting pads meant for DIY you can get from places like Dollar stores. Works perfectly, and saves cash for real stamping stuff!
This obviously doesn't work with StazOn ink, but I have been using a plain wet rag (just water) on all my stamps for over fifteen years. I just make sure and clean them as soon as I've used them. As others have said, I'd rather spend my money on paint, etc.
__________________ Keep what is worth keeping
and with the breath of kindness
blow the rest away.
Location: along the bluffs of the Upper Mississippi River
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For photopolymer it helps the first time you use the stamp to stamp a few times in a light pink or yellow. Then the darker colors don't stain quite so dark as the light color lays a base.
I find SU PP stain the darkest. My Lawn Fawn, PTI, and others really don't stain much.
__________________ All I want is the chance to prove money won't make me happy!
I have several methods I have used over the years, depending on what I had on hand and how lazy I was : I have used a spray bottle filled with Simple Green and a scrub pad; baby wipes; an old dish towel dampened with water; and my favorite method, stamp on scrap paper until no ink comes off (yes, even with my photopolymer stamps ). None of these methods ruined my stamps (I have quite a bit of stamps over 10 years old).
I use my Simple Green cleaner on every stamp I have. I only recently picked up the Lawn Fawn Stamp Shammy, but I find I need more than water with some inks. Yes, I've heard too that the polymer stamps do stain & have some that are. I agree you do need a pad of some sort to scrub your stamp on too, whether it be a little box thingy that opens up & you scrub there or a Tim Holtz brand or what ever. I only bought the stamp shammy recently, because I was using old wash clothes & need SOMETHING to wipe the stamps with at times when cleaning & I need a cloth to wipe my fingers on at times too. It really isn't bad to have more than one method of cleaning your stamps either. Just play around & see what you like best! (I LOVE the idea of just using Dawn or Suave Shampoo! LOL) ;)
Hmmm... I prefer to use Stampin' Up! stamp cleaner and their scrubbing pad. It cleans so well. I initially bought the small bottle with the sprayer and now just purchase the refill size. It literally lasts for years, does a great job and you need so little for it to clean. I wandered away from SU's cleaner and tried baby wipes and other recipes but was never happy with the result and so in my craft room I have my trusty spray bottle and my scrubbing cleaner always on the counter. One thing too is I find with the photopolymer stamps, instead of spraying the stamp I quickly spritz the scrubber with cleaner then a quick spritz of water and I lightly scrub the stamp and dry it on the other half of the scrubber. If the pad gets dry I just spritz with water and voila it's ready to go again. I have had my scrubber for 15+ years and it is still like brand new. HTHs!
For Jennifer McGuire followers, new 2016 favorite things videos went up today, and one covers stamp cleaning. It's the 2nd video on the page, and the cleaning part starts at 4:28. Nothing really new, but could be helpful for some.
I use the Stamp Shammy (or you could cut up an Absorber, from what others have said) or Kirkland (Costco) baby wipes, mostly, occasionally with Hero Arts Ultra Clean. That takes care of almost all cleaning, and I've had the Ultra Clean for ages.
I've had the large cleaning pad she demonstrates for almost a year and finally used it for this week to see how it worked on a very detailed stamp. It was quite nice.
She points out that some good inks stain, and that's not dirt. In fact, I've met people who first stamp with permanent black ink so they can better see their photopolymer stamps.
After cleaning, If my stamp is damp, I stick it on top of its clear sheet, and when dry put it inside on its outline and in the pocket, since I don't like putting a stamp away until dry.
I made my own. I add a touch of DAWN dish liquid to the water in my spray bottle and use a round facial cleaner brush ($1 store find). It works great and the brush gets down in the nooks and crannies. I found DAWN to be a great hand, stencil cleaner when using acrylic paints as well.
I made a homemade cleaner based on a recipe here on Splitcoast with baby body wash, glycerine and distilled water. I use a spray bottle, the CTMH brush for scrubbing and the Absorber cloth. I used to like my scrubbing pad from SU but it doesn't work well when your stamps are in place on a hinged stamping tool like the Stampaholic/Misti/Perfect Positioner etc.
__________________ Leslie Harnish
Sambro, Nova Scotia
Canada
Cleaning stamps
