Bare rubber organization fail and HELP!

[sandydittmer]

Hi everybody. Due to life circumstances, I haven’t been here in literally years. I used to live here. I almost sold all of my stamps and supplies years ago, after spending a small fortune on the hobby and countless hours unmounting all of my stamps (thousands) and going to bare rubber. Thought I had a perfect system in place, and I was so pleased…despite my raw, sore fingers.

Fast forward to current day. I decided to start stamping again. I went to look at my stamps, and over half of them have fallen off the rigid plastic page that I had them mounted to for storage. They are laying in a sad little heap in the bottom of hanging folders that I had the pages stored in. I had researched adhesives until I was actually on a first name basis with a 3M tech. Now I am back to square 1.

I’ve searched and searched, and I’m just not finding anything “new” that folks using bare rubber use to organize their stamps. I will not use ATIOO on the back of the rubber OR on the storage sheet. Learned that the hard way. I will also not mount the stamp onto any cushion product. I want bare rubber. Period. I might have considered the Ad Tech runner tape, but I read here that the formula changed and no longer works.

Anybody have any ideas? I don’t want them loose in ziplock bags. I’d like to see them individually displayed, if that makes sense. I feel like I’m trying to re invent the wheel or something.

Oh, I did see the suggestion of putting each individual stamp in its own little pocket of a coin storage sheet, trading card sheet, etc. I don’t think that would be feasible with thousands of stamps. Maybe I’m just not going to find what I want. 🫤

Thanks for any help.

[gregzgurl]

Hi Sandy, and welcome back! I have tried various different adhesives on my bare rubber and the only one I've been happy with for any length of time is Mount It from Club Scrap: https://clubscrap.com/collections/su...-adhesive-2-oz
It was formulated specifically for bare rubber and that 2 oz bottle goes a looooooong way! You can use the same plastic storage sheets that you were using before, most likely. Good luck!

[sandydittmer]

Hi Sue. Thanks for the reply. Do you think this product could be applied to my plastic storage sheets rather than to the back of the stamps themselves? I’d really prefer not to put anything on the rubber. This product appears, at first glance, to be very similar to ATIOO. I just have such bad memories.

Thanks for your input and time. I appreciate it very much!

[gregzgurl]

I have had horrible experiences with ATIOO, and this is not like that. I used to use Sailor Glue (recommended at a stamp expo waaaaay back in the day), but it was discontinued quite a few years ago now, and Mount It is the ONLY adhesive that I've found that's even similar to the Sailor. I've tried pretty much every adhesive out there, and it's the first one I've actually liked and used consistently. You could certainly try a bit of the Mount It on the plastic sheet instead of the rubber - it's strong enough to keep it there - but then you'd have to use something to stick the rubber to a block or stamp positioner. There are multiple options for that too, I'm aware, but none of them make me happy. You do you, though, lol.

[sandydittmer]

Hi again, Sue. I am seriously considering using the Mount It on the back of my bare rubber stamps…. something I never thought I would EVER consider again after my fiasco with the ATIOO. I just feel like if I only apply it to the plastic storage sheets, any portion of the plastic sheet with the Mount It on it that is not covered with a stamp is going to pick up all kinds of miscellaneous junk (dust, lint, pet hair, etc.). It does make more sense, in theory, to apply it to the rubber itself.

A few immediate questions come to mind. Maybe you can answer them?

When you clean your stamps, does the adhesive come off easily? There are times when I have to clean my stamps more than just a quick wipe, and they might get wet on the underside.

If you WANT to remove the product, is it difficult?

Does it tend to pull off the rubber and adhere to the plastic sheets if you try to remove a stamp that hasn’t been used in quite awhile?

Have you found it to do any damage to the rubber by leaving it on long-term?

Thanks so much for any and all input. This is a bit unnerving for me. I just remember the sore fingers and fingernails, not only from unmounting thousands of stamps from their blocks, but then trying to remove the ATIOO from said stamps AND storage sheets. I don’t want to repeat that EVER again. Thanks so much! 😘

[gregzgurl]

I'll try to answer as best I can...

The adhesive doesn't come off when I clean the stamps. I clean them with water and an Absorber (found in the automotive department at Walmart - basically the same thing as the "cleaning cloths" that craft companies are selling now, only cheaper and huge enough to cut into multiples) most of the time. I've also used Ultra Clean and a microfiber cloth with excellent results.

If you want to remove the product, you can roll it off with a bit of effort, but may end up with a blister if you do too many at a time.

The only time I've had a problem with the adhesive pulling off the rubber and leaving residue on the carrier sheets is if I used too much and/or didn't allow enough dry time. You seriously want to put the thinnest coat possible on the rubber, making sure to cover it completely. I use my finger to apply it and, if I have too much, I simply smear it on another stamp (usually a smaller one that's in line to be coated). I typically put the adhesive on in the evening and put them on the carrier sheets in the morning, but an hour or so is actually sufficient.

I haven't seen any damage to any of the stamps at all, no matter how long the adhesive has been on them. I've even been able to revive some that got dusty or something and lost some of their "stick" by giving them a quick wipe with rubbing alcohol. I have had to add a bit more glue on some of the oldest stamps, but I've been very happy with Mount It.

I hope that covers it! Let me know if you have any other questions.

[sandydittmer]

Thank you so much! You have been very helpful. I will order some and give it a try. I’m assuming it can only be found at Club Scrap?

edit: bummer. Website says it cannot freeze and may not be possible to ship during cold weather. I’ll contact them tomorrow.

[sandydittmer]

They allowed me to order! I’ll post my results back here once I get going. Unfortunately, I have some failed product on the backs of my rubber that will need to be removed before I apply the Mount-It. Should peel off fairly easily…just time consuming.

[wavejumper]

Sue is a queen of bare rubber so I would go with whatever she suggests. I did dots of tack it over and over but it is not holding. They are falling off the cling page. Sigh. They are in large ziplock bags so I wont lose them but someday I will have to re-think that.