STICKY MESS---help needed with unmounting
 

I began the rewarding task of unmounting all of my SU sets and placing them on EZ mount foam. I am running into gunk on the back of my stamps that won't seem to budge. I am removing the rubber from the original foam. I have tried soaking them in a rubbing alcohol bath...goo gone...
Does anyone know a trick to make this process a tiny bit easier? I don't want to use the thin EZ Mount...
Carissa

You have to use goo gone or another adhesive remover.

I haven't really worked at removing any sticky stuff but went ahead and mounted it on EZ foam. I did this a long time ago and there has not been any problem.

I found that the sticky glue-y stuff was not a problem if I left it there. HOWEVER, if you have ANY foam stuff left on the rubber, it has to come off. I used that square rubber thingy that is in the catty (I got mine elsewhere but it is the same thing). I just looked it up...its called the Adhesive Remover, on page 185, and costs $1.95. Works great.

Did you microwave the stamp to make the glue soft which makes it easier to remove then? I just nuked my stamps for about 20 seconds, let cool for a minute and them pulled the wood and foam off. A few of my non-SU stamps had hard to take off foam but I just nuked then again for about 15 seconds, took out of microwave, used a small spatula to scrape off the foam/gunk and then a bit of Goo-Gone to wipe clean.

I've only run across that with a couple of the sets when I unmounted. I just rubbed the foam that remained off with my thumb. I'm going to have to try the adhesive remover eraser next time though!

Hi! I used my hot knife to scrape it off. That seemed to work fairly well. Good luck...the sticky finger feeling won't last forever!!

I've heard of the microwave trick before, but I've never tried it myself. Good luck.

Becky

I unmounted some old penny black stamps and some of the cushion came off with the rubber. I just took some light grit sandpaper to get the remaining parts of the cushion off.

unmounting gooey mess
 

Just be careful when you use the goo gone and acetate type products when i dismounted my Big Blossoms for whatever reason a lot of the foam stayed behind i tried everything then I covered it with goo gone and let it soak a bit and the rubber melted and it got all funky...just beware!!
Betti Geis
TAC # 1613

Can I pick up the EZ mount at a Michaels/Joanns/Hobby Lobby - or is easier find/only available on the internet?

I haven't been able to find it locally where I live. I got mine on ebay.

I am dismounting all my stamps. Yikes! what was I thinking when I started this project? Most of my stamps come off the wood mount cleanly when I microwave them (be careful, as the wood can get hot). But on some half of the foam stays on and has been really really hard to remove. And some stamps have a soft foam that is completely resistant to microwave, goo gone, hot water and Sticky Stuff spray adhesive remover. has anyone tried vinegar? or acetone? I am concerned these might hurt the rubber, but I guess if I don't let it soak, I might be ok if I wash them off with soap and water.

Any thoughts? many thanks

I've had success with Un-Du. I heat the stamps in the microwave at 5-second intervals and then peel the stamps off the mounts. I then rub the foam/adhesive off with my fingers. I apply a few drops of Un-Du on whatever remains and rub it off with my fingers. I haven't had any problems with my stamps drying out or crumbling. It doesn't seem to damage the rubber in any way. HTH.

I've had good luck with both Goo Gone and UnDu - but like you said, don't let the stamps soak in it. Keep it confined to the back of the stamp, and when you're done, pop the stamp in some soapy water to get any Goo Gone residue off of it.

Ive got another question on this subject.

What are you doing to show what the stamps look like after you take them off of the wood? If you place the clear image from the top of the wood onto the foam backing then they wont mount onto the clear blocks? When you see only grey foam it is a bit hard to see how you are stamping your image out if you need to center it right. Does this make since? I hope so. I have amased too many and they are not fitting too well in the closet. But I want to be able to see what Im stamping before I actually stamp and waste ink paper or time.

Honestly, I don't worry about an index image on the back of mine. Got used to stamping without it; if precise placement is essential, I use my Stampamajig. But if you want the index image, there are a couple of ways you can get one.

Some folks stamp the image with Staz-On on the cling side of the EZ mount before sticking it to the rubber die. This gets kind of tricky, though, getting the index image lined up with the rubber image. But then again, the indexes on wood mounts can be off, too. Also, the one set that I have like this, the staz-on transferred to the cd case the set was stored in. Didn't matter to me, since I moved it to my own storage system and threw the case out, but if you are one of those stampers that needs all their stuff kept pristine, it's something to keep in mind.

Here's how I got index images on my formerly wood-mounted stamps: I keep the original foam from the wood mount stamp and take the indexing sticker off the wood block and trim it very close to the image so there's still a border of foam when I stick the sticker onto the foam. Then I coat the whole thing with Alene's Tack It Over & Over or Mono Multi glue (in the white bottle with the green caps). Once the glue dries, stick & unstick it to your arm or the back of your hand a few times to lessen the stick a bit, and you have indexed stamps.

If your stamp doesn't have a sticker index, you can also stamp the image on tissue paper and put it on the sticky foam and then coat with one of the glues.

But you're right - the label method won't work with EZ Mount.

Putting your image onto EZ mounted stamps.
 

I found this solution on youtube: Remove your stamp from the wood mount and place it onto the EZ mount. Cut it out. Stamp the image onto a flat plain piece of rubber (I had better luck using an acrylic stamp mount). Remove the protective sheet from your EZ mounted image and place it, cling side down, onto the stamped rubber*. Try to line it up the same way the stamp is aligned. Press firmly. The image will transfer to the back of the mount. Sometimes the image is imperfect, but this way I at least know which stamp I am using and which side is 'up'. *note: if you used an acrylic mount to stamp on, you can place your EZ mounted stamp face down and pick up the mount to stamp onto the cling side.

I found that VersaMagic ink dried quickly and didn't smear as much as StazON. (I also use it on my shrink plastic). hth

On thing I haven't done is write the name of the stamp company on the back of the stamp. Does anyone bother with this?

Doesn't that reverse the image on the EZ Mount? Thinking words, when you look at the image on your stamp, they're backwards. Stamp them onto the acrylic block, they're correct. Now you stamp from the acrylic block to the EZ mount, the words should be backward again. I think.

Regarding the name of the stamp company - I have this in my image index and I have it on the card the stamp is stored on, so I don't need it on the stamp itself.

Thank you for taking the time out to answer me Im going to try it and see what happens thanks again your awesome

Stamping text images on EZ mount
 

Hi again,
Great idea about putting the name of the stamp on the card the stamp is stored on; I never thought about writing on the storage panels!

It is true that for text images if you use the reverse stamping process to stamp your image on the back of the EZ mount it will be reversed, but it will be an exact reflection of the mounted stamp. Of course, you won't be able to read it! It never occurred to me that when stamp companies provide labels for word stamps, they reverse the images so you can read them.

The only way I can think of to fix this is to stamp the image on the cling side of the EZ mount before you mount the stamp on it. Then cut out the EZ mount and then mount your text stamp. Might be a bit tricky to align, but you could read it. Since I mount my stamp on the Sunday Int. panels that are white (rather than the clear ones available from another supplier), I need to stamp an index image anyway, which I put in a 'magnetic' scrapbook page behind the panel.

hth

If I use EZMount, I stamp the image on the cling side in StazOn. While I have the stamp inked up and on the cling, I take a pen and make a few tick marks on the edge of the rubber down to the edge of the EZMount (make sense? if not, I can take a pic and show you). Then I flip it over and adhere the rubber to the EZMount, taking care to line up the little tick marks. That way the image is always exactly lined up with the stamp.

Now I just take the sticker off the wood and put it on the grey foam that's already attached. If it's a new stamp, I just take the fresh sticker and stick it on the back of the stamp before I trim it). Then I take some Aleene's Tack it Over and Over and just put a small dot of that on the sticker.. smear it around and let it dry a minute or so (doesn't take long because I only use a dot). Then I stick it to my hand a few times to get the extra stickiness off, and it's done. Super fast, super easy, and I'm only out the expense of the bottle of glue that will last me the rest of my life.

Here is a great utube video from Cindy McVey if you decide to go with this method. You wouldn't even need any EZmount. Just one bottle of TIOAO.

YouTube - Convert Wood-Mounted Stamps to Clear-Mount




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[QUOTE=lbirus;18037537]Here is a great utube video from Cindy McVey if you decide to go with this method. You wouldn't even need any EZmount. Just one bottle of TIOAO.

YouTube - Convert Wood-Mounted Stamps to Clear-Mount



That is so darn easy looking too. Thanks for posting that and I also shared it with a few others I know interested in down sizing all their stamps. Now Im thinking I might have a huge project ahead of me cuz I can clear up so much room now and have more to fill up with other things just crowding around me.

There's an old thread I think in Techniques on this. I found the microwave worked well and for the real problem stamps, I kept them in my freezer overnight or longer and it was so easy to get the stuff off. Of course when my husband went to get ice he wanted to know what the H stamps were doing in the freezer - lol.

The only thing I would suggest is if you haven't used unmounted stamps before, try it with a couple of sets and see if you like to work that way. Myself, I love 'em and actually prefer the unmounted to wood-mount, but I've talked to a couple of people who just don't like them and think they're a hassle to work with.

Thank You Cheryl I will try a few first and see how it turns out. I know my mentor has done this and she just had the problem if not knowing which one to use like with the elegant sayings Su's and with it being so fancy it is hard to know what you got before you stamp. not to mention you want it straight and right side up too ;)

What great ideas! I have tried using some cling film (actually it was some window decorations that I bought and never used, so there are flowers on it...) that I put on the sticky foam remaining when I removed the WM. but since it has patterns on it, i can't stamp an image...

I only care about attaching the label on sentiment stamps as I'm used not having an index for unmounted stamps. To make sure I stamp in the correct direction, I use a sharpie and write an arrow on the EXZ Mount pointing to the top of the stamp so I don't stamp it upside down.

I just checked in my book on Glues and Adhesives by Nancy Ward; for some adhesives she recommends paint thinner or xylene; for others acetone. I haven't checked to see which might be the least toxic and ok for rubber stamps. Does anyone know? I know that nail polish remover has acetone in it, so it probably isn't too bad on the toxicity front.

Do not use these products on your rubber stamps! If you can not get the goo off, try putting them in the freezer for a bit! Then use our thumb to literally rub it off! Hard work, but well worth the effort! I did over 350 sets!

Hi! I'm still at that task myself! In addition to the microwave trick I read on here and also have been using this method by putting your stamps in the freezer. The longer they are in there the better I have found. If there is any leftover sticky residue on your stamp, but you can use un-du. I bought it for the same reason and it does work.

Wow--the freezer! I never would have thought of that, as I was pursuing the heat route. The microwave does a fabulous job of making the adhesive soft on most of my stamps, but on some only part the rubber peels off and part stays on the wood. Maybe I should try using a spatula...which would then get sticky. good thing I bought one especially for crafting!

I have tried Un-du and found it does work, but takes forever to remove all the adhesive from the rubber, as it dries so quickly. I wondered what it was made of and looked on their website. It is Hydrotreated Light Distillate, consisting of 90% N-Heptane. Huh? Other than being a petroleum product, I don't know what it is. The hazard ratings are as follows:
Health - 1 Slight
Flammability - 3 Severe (Flammable)
Reactivity - 0 None
Contact - 1 Slight
Hazard Ratings are 0 to 4 (0 = No Hazard; 4 = Extreme Hazard)

But for me, it's on to the freezer!

I've had the most success with the freezer. If when you take the stamps out to remove the foam, it's still difficult to get off, put them back in. What I was doing was just putting the stamps in and leaving them in overnight. Worked great. Every now and then I would get a stubborn one, usually the black foam, and then I just had to work at getting it all off but for the most part, the foam comes right off with little to no aggravation.