REMOVING SELF ADHESIVE STAMPS FROM PAPER:
Since the early 1990's, a problem has been encountered in removing self adhesive stamps from paper. Old fashioned soaking in luke warm water does nto work since the paper manufacturers no longer include the water soluble layer in their products. The result is that soaking in water does either nothing to release the stamp from the paper or the ink flakes off if the stamp has been left in the water for too long a period of time.
An article in the October, 2010 issue of THE AMERICAN PHILATELIST seems to have come up with a solution this problem. Their article talks about Bestine, a solvent, which is a hydrocarbon containing Heptane. The long term use of this product raises the question of safety and the product is somewhat hard to find, being available mainly in art supply stores. An alternative to Bestine is discussed and while still a solvent and flammable, is a non-aerosol, natural product with a citrus scent. Here is what you need:
A can of Pure Citrus (found in the air freshener section of Wal Mart or Home Depot)
A paper towel
Talcum Powder
Clip the stamp off the envelope leaving at least 1/4 inch of envelope all around
Turn the clipping over and spray sparingly with the Pure Citrus
Turn the clipping over and bend or roll slightly (just until one corner of the stamp is released)
Slowly peel the stamp off the paper (the adhesive will be on the stamp)
Place the stamp face down on the paper towel and allow to dry completely (about 20 minutes)
Dip your finger in the talcum power and rub it on the entire back of the stamp
The stickiness will disappear and your stamp is ready to mount in your album
Before this method was discovered, the suggested procedure was to leave 1/4 inch of paper around the stamp and mount the whole clipping in your album. This led to too much bulk on the album pages because many of the modern stamps are self adhesive. This product is used by Home Depot employees to remove sales stickers from products in their store.
I personally removed on stamp from yellow paper and there was no transfer of color to the stamp. Removing stamps from red, green or blue paper should be done carefully or remove a damaged stamp from paper of those colors just to see if there is any transfer of color as often happens during soaking in water. There is also a Vanilla-scented air freshener and it may work as well but the article seemed to focus on the citrus scented product.