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I have been unmounting my background stamps. SOme are very old and a tacky grainy film remains on the red rubber. Anyone have success in getting it off.
Thanks for your help
Oops or Goof Off are for removing paint (find them at hardware stores), and may be too harsh for rubber stamps, but I've never tried it, so c-mouse may be perfectly correct. I might try Goo Gone (citrus based - also at hardware stores or grocery stores) or Ultra Clean (made for cleaning stamps), maybe...?
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Last edited by gregzgurl; 03-31-2017 at 04:18 PM..
Reason: clarify
I tried several methods and each one depends on how old the glue is and if it's still dry (whether you have already tried a solvent to take it off). The good news is if it is the dry grainy type like some of mine were, i found that I could literally "roll it off from the side with my finger and peel it back" (at times in pieces). If it is too old, I could take a fine emery board to loosen the edges and it would roll it back. All without damaging the rubber!! The stampin up stamps would peel right off!
If it is still sticky, you may use a few but the emery board may pull the sticky stuff off by gently wiping it over and over. The board was a fine finishing emery board!
Thanks for your post. Its true, some just came of so easy, others have a light tacky feel, some have the grainy stuff still on it and some I still have to fight to get the foam of the rubber b/c it broke in places.
These are the most frustrating ones. Any other thoughts on how to get this off. IT stuck real hard towards the rubber and very dry on the opposite side.
If it's a background stamp and you're not going to put any adhesive or cling foam or anything on it, I'd just leave it alone. That's what I did with a few of mine that I use face up rather than sticking them to a block or MISTI or anything, just to save my self some frustration. I think that Jana 25's suggestion to sort of "sand" it off is a good one, actually, if you want to give that a try...
OK!! Since you asked! And it is not for the faint of heart!! And YOU MUST BE CAREFUL!! With your Xacto knife, you can hold it a an angle as flat as possible and very gently scrape from the edges inward and lift very thin slices of that glued paper stuff up!! but only if you trust yourself, it is very easy to cut into the rubber. It would be on the back but you should not do this if you are busy with something else BUT IF YOU MUST GET IT OFF THE BACK, this does work. I have even used the blade at a 45 degree angle and GENTLY scraped to break up the extra hard stuff then turn the knife on edge to lift it off! I saved this technique for the last of the group, wanted to quit a couple of times but finished off all my collection. If you want a mild solvent to use on the stamps, I used "the best cleaner ever" from Scraperfect (video on You Tube) on several stamps. It has no toxic ingredients or smell. There were just a few stamps that were still sticky afterwards and I used dawn to wash them down after that then used the stamp cleaner gregzgurl recommended to "recondition" them but they are in good shape now! BUT, take your time! Its up hill from here!
Just thought I'd add- whatever product you are using to remove sticky stuff from stamps, please make sure that they do not contain oil. I work in an industry that uses a lot of oil, and can tell you that over time, oil eats away at rubber and destroys it.
are so right. i tried Goo gone on one of them and it didnt really work and felt oily. Then I read the label closely. Do not use on rubber. Thank goodness it was just one stamp. I couldnt even wash it off.
Well I finished unmounting all my large background stamps. I found that for the real dry ones - if I wet it with stamp cleaner like HA ultra clean and then carefully scraped off with the blade of my craft knife - I was able to get the stuff of. Thank you Jana for the suggestion. It is not a method for the faint of heart. It takes time, patience and at times it was a sticky mess but I did it. Just want to reiterate - dont use go gone b/c its oil based an it says dont use on rubber on the label. It just made the back more stickier and I was unable to get it off. I just remounted that one on cling foam but the rest are red rubber only. Hope this helps someone.
Help: still some tacky stuff on the red rubber
