Help For Hard Rubber Stamp?

[Grammatina]

Does anyone know of something that will bring an old rubber stamp that has gotten hard back to life? Thanks for any suggestions!

[JBgreendawn]

the rumor is that soaking the rubber part in glycerin will do it.
I have not however been successful with this.

it's possible that (is it still on a wood block) try laying the wood on the table and the rubber up and inking that and laying the paper on top of the image and pressing gently without wiggling the paper and it may still transfer the image that way?

[JBgreendawn]

another thought would be to try using versamark ink on the rubber since it is so sticky.

[annie*]

I hesitated to respond to this thread since I have saved a stamp this way, but it was a very long time ago. As I recall I filled a dish with enough glycerin to be able to soak the rubber stamp in, but not so deep as to touch the foam and wood. I soaked it for most of a week, checking it every day. My recollection is that I was able to save the stamp. I don't think glycerin is terribly expensive so you could buy some and give it a try and maybe you will have a happy result. Good luck!

[Grammatina]

So far I've tried turning it upside down and laying the paper on the top and the versamark with no luck. Now I have applied Vaseline liberally to it and sealed it in a plastic freezer bag. Thought I would leave it in there for several days. If that doesn't work I'll get some glycerin and try that. It may just be too far gone. Thanks for all of the suggestions ladies!

[gregzgurl]

When I read that you had put Vaseline on the rubber stamp, it triggered an "oh no!" in my head, because I thought that I'd read something about petroleum jelly (which is what Vaseline is) breaking down rubber. I went looking and found this: https://chemistry.stackexchange.com/...nts-and-rubber
You may want to try a different approach...

[wavejumper]

Some cleaners also condition. I generally use simple green for that reason on rubber. I have had some luck with stazon cleaner which I find to be pretty oily. I turn it rubber side up, spray liberally and leave it overnight.

i dont know how much work you want to put into this....

Is it so hard it wants to break up? If no, a choice might be to take it off the wood. (you can always glue it back on) Is the foam shot too? You could separate them, apply a new layer of cling and see how that goes. Before that maybe put it in the glycerin for awhile while it is plain rubber?

I have not gone this far myself. Just a thought.

[Grammatina]

Thanks for the thought on the Vaseline. I've now cleaned that off and when I go to a bigger town today I will get some glycerin and try that. No, it's not so hard that it's breaking up but it definitely doesn't have any "give" left in it. I'll keep trying.