stains on rubber

[dbear]

I was hoping you guys could help me. I just received a stamp set I purchased used, and the rubber is stained with black ink really bad.:( Any ideas on how I could remove most of this. I am very particular about the condition of my stamps, and would like to find a way to clean this if possibe. TIA

[outsiderartist]

This might not be the best advice, but when I have done bleaching technique, I notice that afterwards my stamps are alot cleaner.

Also Stazon cleaner might also help.

[dbear]

bump!

[lbirus]

I know people worry about this one but I think for a one time thing, it's worth it. I used a few drops of 99% alchohol on my stampin scrub, it took off all the black, even from my really stained stamps that were stained from stazon!!! Then I rinsed them off with the regular stampin mist cleaner to get off any alchohol residue and to keep it from drying out the rubber. My stamps are just fine and they are bright and clean again!

[MSBetsyZ]

I swear by Kiss Off for major, old stains like this. Way back in my early stamping days I would quite often just toss stamps into a basket to be cleaned later. Well, "later" usually only occurred when the basket overflowed, lol! ugh. Well, one night I sat down with a very wet rag, an old toothbrush, and the kiss off and went to town.

Tap the stamp on the wet rag and get it wet; generously rub the kiss off all over the rubber. Let sit.

Take the toothbrush and really scrub. This is great not just for waterproof ink but for dried-in-the cracks metallic ink (yuck!).

Nothing is perfect all the time, but I'll tell you, Kiss Off is THE best in my book. Look for it in the fine art/artists' brushes section at Michaels. It's right near the brush cleaners, etc. It comes in a small tube and only costs around $5.

[stampinsandyaz]

I bought a used set of stamps and had the same experience. The ad said "some light staining"! I even had to remove the rubber and sand the blocks they were so bad. (really yuck!)

I had read a number of threads here that talked about Simple Green from the auto dept at Walmart really cleaning stained stamps. I went and bought some and it did the trick! It was about $3.99 in a spray bottle and concentrated so that when diluted it makes 5 gallons. I followed others advice and mixed it 30:1 and scrubbed with a toothbrush (then cleaned really well with SU Mist) You would never know the condition they came in!

Sandy

[MonTigg]

I use the dawn power cleaner gel- they sell it like at walmart near the dish soap! It's like $3 and with an old toothbrush takes it all off!

[TNstampgirl]

this is all great advice! i've heard of people using an old stained up yoyo yellow pad to clean off black ink. i tried it and it works. what is it about that YY?