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I am a devoted rubber stamper, but I have been seeing a ton of gorgeous cards made with Paper Trey Acrylic Stamps.
Okay, a few months ago I bought some acrylic stamps at Michaels in the $1 bin. $1 for 6 small acrylic stamps and another $1 for the clear mounting thing. I was excited to use this little set, but when I inked them, the ink beaded and I had light and dark areas on my stamped images. Please tell me that only the $1 ones are like this. BTW, I've never had a problem with the Michaels $1 rubber stamps.
Are the acrylic ones as good as rubber? Just not the $1 ones?
All acrylic is the same, pretty much... and the ink can react differently on acrylic than on rubber.
Here are some things to try to make those great stamps work better
*try using your sandying block or an eraser to go over the entire image before inking... then clean the stamp and ink it... this works well on acrylics and rubber to make ink stick better... it removes any residue left from the production process
*try using a different ink... the SU Classic inks don't work as well on Acrylics. You are better off using a thicker ink like SU Craft or the VersaMagic Pads (Brilliance or regular)
I don't find that my cheap Michael's stamps are any worse than the more expensive acrylics... but there is a difference between acrylics and rubber
I was under the impression that acrylic stamps were all different. The higher quality ones from PTI and MFT are photo polymer whereas the cheaper ones are made out of worse materials
I have also used Versamark on any stamp in the past that just isn't picking up the ink like I want - just stamp it off and then use with the original ink.
I am a devoted rubber stamper, but I have been seeing a ton of gorgeous cards made with Paper Trey Acrylic Stamps.
Okay, a few months ago I bought some acrylic stamps at Michaels in the $1 bin. $1 for 6 small acrylic stamps and another $1 for the clear mounting thing. I was excited to use this little set, but when I inked them, the ink beaded and I had light and dark areas on my stamped images. Please tell me that only the $1 ones are like this. BTW, I've never had a problem with the Michaels $1 rubber stamps.
Are the acrylic ones as good as rubber? Just not the $1 ones?
Thanks!!!
Water-based dye ink may bead up on any stamps, whether rubber or acrylic.
With solid style rubber stamps, it could be that the release agent used in the manufacturing process has left a slight residue.
If you start with pigment inks, whether rubber or clear, you shouldn't have any issues.
If you start with water-based dye inks on clear stamps, you may have considerable repelling issues.
In either case, rubber or clear, if you are experiencing repelling, rub the surface of the stamps with a pink or white eraser, and that should solve most repelling problems. Some clear stamps just won't accept water-based dye ink well/evenly, tho, even after that, or results will be inconsistent. I usually use pigment or chalk inks with clear stamps.
As far as the quality of impressions achieved with clear stamps, yes, there are differences, depending on what they are made of.
Less expensive/cheaper quality clear stamps are often made of vinyl. They stretch and distort fairly easily, and it can be difficult to get them to maintain the true shape of the image when trying to mount them to the block, etc. And, if you don't apply just the right amount of pressure, you can end up with smooshed images. :?
High quality clear stamps, and therefore, more expensive ones, are made of photopolymer. It has a durometer more closely akin to ruby red rubber, altho I haven't yet found a clear stamp that can produce an impression quite as crisp as what can be achieved with high quality, deeply etched ruby red. ;) Doesn't mean they aren't great stamps, just that a deeply etched ruby red rubber stamp still gives, IMHO and in my personal experiences, the best of impressions when comparing between the two.
HTH,
__________________ Julie Ebersole (JulieHRR once upon a time . . . )julieebersole.com"So shines a good deed in a weary world." -Willy Wonka
I've always preferred red rubber but I bought a set of clear by My Sentiments Exactly. It was on Ebay and the price was great. I was leary about what kind of image I would get with one of the verses so I practiced first. The verse came out very crisp and clear. I used Memories Black dye ink. I was prepared if I had problems thanks to many great threads here on SCS but didn't need to do a thing. I bought a few more sets but have made sure that they are photopolymer.
All this wonderful info has been so helpful. You girls really know your stuff. I'm going to try the eraser thing, hopefully it'll work. Just one more question, are the clear blocks that you "mount" the acrylic on interchangeable between companies? Thanks again!
All this wonderful info has been so helpful. You girls really know your stuff. I'm going to try the eraser thing, hopefully it'll work. Just one more question, are the clear blocks that you "mount" the acrylic on interchangeable between companies? Thanks again!
I've never had any trouble - I think an acrylic block pretty much is an acrylic block - just go for what you want and what feels good; some have grooves some have grids etc.
I have even used a SeeD's case lid in a hurry rather than getting a block out :lol:
Try using a fine grit file on the stamps. I hate M's $1 stamps. I bought a bunch b/c the designs were really cute but I find the acrylic is very cheap compared to other clear stamps I've used. The acrylic "gives" when you stamp making the stamped image blurry, which I can't stand. Give it another try and if it doesn't work, try a different brand stamp. Good luck!
Love acrylic stamps....I only have very few rubber ones.
I LOVE acrylics as well! The positioning is soooo much easier, esp after a few drinks Most stores don't carry a big selection, but simonsaysstamp.com carries a TON of them!
I guess I just have to chime in here...Clear stamps are not all equal. Flourishes sells clear photo polymer stamps so this is a topic I researched before we launched our company, so maybe my 2 cents in this topic will help. Paper Trey, MFT, Crafty Secrets, Verve Visual, and Flourishes clear stamps are ones that I know are made from the top quality photo polymer available. This product was actually developed for the printers to replace red rubber. It was designed to have all the characteristics of rubber stamps and has been used in the print industry for years. It is actually fairly new to the stamp industry, but it is the exact same product that the print industry has been using.
Acrylic, silicone, or vinyl stamps , as the name implies, are made of those products. Silicone (yes, the very same thing that is used to caulk your bathtub, etc) and vinyl are clear but do not have any of the properties of photo polymer or rubber, but it is clear--and it is cheap. It does not have the life of photo polymer or rubber.
With many more stamps being imported be sure to check to see what you are buying....you really want photo polymer--and preferably those made in the USA.
Advice Needed about Acrylic Stamps
