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I read that about Tim Holtz also, and tried that on a few of my stamps (index with Stazon and then just let it dry on there, stamp off in between stamping then--the Stazon protects the rubber). I generally clean my stamps so I have a hard time getting past my OCD on that, but I surely wouldn't blame others for not cleaning them (and I definitely don't care about stains, as long as they don't discolor the next image).
As long as the seller's ebay description did not say it was cleaned, then it's buyer beware, as far as I'm concerned. It doesn't seem like such a big deal to me, either, in the sense that they did come clean for you so no harm done, right?
__________________ Lynn
"Sir, my concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God's side, for God is always right�--Lincoln
I would guess look at the stamper rubber stamps if they are clean or not and it will tell you how clean their house would be. Same as tell me who your friends are and I will tell you who you are... (except for the demo as a lot of people will used them)
I also bought a stamp set from someone else from Internet she did not said that it was not clean so I never assumed it could be as dirty and I was so surprised the rubber was complitly and deeply black. I stamped with it with black just to see what it would look like and in the tiny detailed aread it was just a big spot as the ink filled all the holes and dried into those
I did not had the time to sit to clean them but I am sure I will be able to clean it but anyway I would have preffer not to have to clean them
I gave all my SU sets to my 4 year old who loves to stamp with COLOR and she has her own set of copics which she uses to color directly onto the rubber. It actually makes me really happy to see how much fun she has with it and how colorful the stamps are.
Wow, how I would love to be your daughter, though I'm probably old enough to be your mother, since I have a 3 year old granddaughter!:p
__________________ Cindy blog,
Design Team for Provo Craft Cricut Circle
I clean my stamps immediately after I stamp with them even if I'm going to use the same color ink again. I don't want a build up of ink on my rubber or acrylic stamps. Cleaning does help to preserve the rubber.
I respect Tim Holtz, but don't always agree with him. But then again, I doubt he would clean his own stamps anyway. Most likely he has someone do that for him behind the scenes.
I also don't understand how someone could get the wood mount of the stamp dirty. The wood doesn't touch the ink pad. You are supposed to put the rubber part to the ink pad. I don't understand why someone would cover the wood mount with a varnish or whatever either.
These are just my opinions. But I will also say that all my stamps now are just plain rubber, no wood or foam.
If I bought stamps off Ebay (which I would never do), and they were dirty in anyway, I would return them. The exception to this would be if the description said they were dirty or stained. Degree of dirty or stained varies greatly between people. Mostly, (in my opinion) dirty stamps shows a lack of caring for your crafting tools.
So I have about 200 stamp sets and 100 individual stamps to play with, all the SU sets she has are one's I was going to sell but decided to give to her and forget about using for myself.
(sorry for taking inventory here, you just made me stop to think about what I have)
I'll admit that she gets the benefit of my lifestyle, she gets all of my makeup to play with too. So if you realize that I spent 5 years as a makeup artist and have 100's of lipsticks and about 500:shock: eyeshadows she's a pretty lucky 4 year old. I've gotten more than one "look" while out in public when she whips out a MAC lipgloss to put on, lol.
I just can't imagine not sharing it with my girls, can you imagine being that little and seeing so many pretty things to play with? I get excited and I'm the adult, as a kid I would have freaked!:mrgreen:
ok- sorry to hijack the thread, back to the stamp cleaning talk!:-D
I know, as a kid, I would have been in heaven!! All of my days of playing Librarian would have been "crazy fun"!!! What am I talking about, they are!!! Hehehe. I was just a want to be librarian, not because of the books, because I always wanted to stamp that darned stamp!!!!
As I said before, I'm not worried about the stamp itself, if there is ink on it, makes me feel like it's been "loved". I worked as a Daycare Director and Sunday School Super for years and love the kids to have a ball with everything I have. I do like a clean stamped image though, as to not freak anyone out! Heheheheeee. One of my best friends just cringes at our gatherings if someone mixes the ink, esp. yellow from a stamp that hasn't been cleaned. As a demo, you have to pick your battles, I just wipe it off until the wrong color doesn't come out and maybe add a few drops of re-ink. Voi'la No foul-no harm. It's all good!!
I clean my stamps as I use them. I can't imagine NOT cleaning them right away - - - though I do have wood stains - - - and like a previous poster - - - that just shows me I got my MONEY out of them by using them a lot I keep the rubber CLEAN and DRY!!!!
__________________
- Katie - Wife to Ted - Mommy to Lizzy, Luke, Maggie, and Annie
I also don't understand how someone could get the wood mount of the stamp dirty. The wood doesn't touch the ink pad. You are supposed to put the rubber part to the ink pad. I don't understand why someone would cover the wood mount with a varnish or whatever either.
These are just my opinions. But I will also say that all my stamps now are just plain rubber, no wood or foam.
Patti
Nah, not lack of respect, just a different perspective. I used to keep my stamps pristine until I started sharing stamps and teaching. The first time someone rocked a stamp on a Stazon pad I was silently miffed. I had to sand the stamp to get it "almost" clean. As I started working with diffent mediums and techniques, it was impossible to keep the wood clean. It really bugged me to have dirty wood. Then I had a reality check, instead of being angry, I looked at the plus side, I was able to enjoy new techniques to make beautiful art. Why down grade the fun by being upset over a bit of stained wood.
My stamps may not be pretty but they are well used. I get much joy from a day with my stamps with no pressure to be neat. If a stamp sits in my clean basket for a week, no harm done as it stamps just a well as a stamp that cleaned as soon as I used it.
What is so great about this forum is that although we all have a common interest we get to share our different perspectives to find kindered spitirs and polar opposites. Have a peaceful day.
I use unmounted stamps, so wood staining isn't an issue. I clean my stamps before I put them away. There is no ink that Ultra Clean can't remove, so my stamps look like they've never been used. I like 'em that way.
__________________ Debra ---artist * teacher * designer Say yes. Be generous. Speak up. Love more. Trust yourself. Slow down. ---Patti Digh
Here's the story. I bought an adorable stamp off of ebay the other day and when it arrived I was a little taken back. It was caked in ink. The stamp and the wood mount. Showed to my partner Rick and said, wow was this guy was well loved. Then I thought to myself maybe I can get a little of the ink off. To my total surprise all the ink came off the stamp and most off the wood. So my question is why do some stampers never clean there stamps?? And if you were going to sell a stamp wouldn't you clean it before you sold it?? I have to admit that I am a little intense about keeping my stamps clean but I don't get insane if there is some staining. To me is just shows that they have been well loved. But to not clean a stamp at all is foreign to me.
What do you all think?:confused:
This happened to me last year. I bought a retired SU set from an e-bayer and when it arrived a few of the stamps had wet silver ink still on it. I immediately sent the seller an e-mail about it and they apologized profusely and promptly credited my paypal account the shipping cost as a gesture of goodwill. It was nice that the seller was truly sorry and backed it up with a little goodwill. I remember thinking it was odd that they would send it without making sure it was clean but my thoughts were that the seller was another avid stamper like us who was culling his or her collection and thought they would stamp off a few more before shipping it off and then forgot to wash them before shipping the set.
I now write the eBay Seller and ask specific questions about the condition of used stamp sets before bidding. I'd rather pay an eBayer that has the consideration to clean their stamps before selling, than one that does not. And it seems that most are not as nice as the SCSer above who does fully disclose that her stamps have not been cleaned. JMHO! :-) LM
Quote:
Originally Posted by der5van2
I have received many many sets that have not been cleaned. One time, I received an expensive set and the rubber was black as black could ever get. You'd think SU used new rubber(which I know was not possible since it was an older set). Anyway, I sat down ready for a couple hours of work to clean it off and with one swipe on the scrubber(doused with Awesome), I was able to see the red rubber. There was not one mention by the seller that the set was heavily stained.
Just the other day, I sent a set that I gave for free--just pay shipping--to someone and I was finding myself cleaning it and sanding the wood block to make it as pretty as possible. Someone had sold it to me but hadn't bothered to clean it.
We should feel lucky to be able to be in a hobby where we can sell something that has been used and be able to recoup most of what we paid for it and sometimes even more. The least we can do is clean it for the next person.
So true! After all, if you bought dishes on eBay, you would expect them to arrive clean, not with old food on them, right? LOL! :-) LM
Quote:
Originally Posted by cjbapp
Along these lines....
When you sell a retired set on Ebay, you get a lot more if you have a photo of the rubber side of the set! I always get more than most similar auctions have ended for by showing the back sides.
Staining really isn't an issue, but at least people seem to like to know that it's at least clean.
I often buy (garage sales & craigslist) and resell on Ebay and just a little cleaning goes a long way for some of those really bad ones!
Actually...it does happen (wood mount geting ink on it). I am a careful stamper, but it has happened to me. And some colors do not come off the wood mount, even with Staz-on. I clean the wood, the best I can, and then don't worry about it. If I were to sell my stamps on eBay, i would definitely describe any staining on the wood. :-) LM
Quote:
Originally Posted by pjw2855
I clean my stamps immediately after I stamp with them even if I'm going to use the same color ink again. I don't want a build up of ink on my rubber or acrylic stamps. Cleaning does help to preserve the rubber.
I respect Tim Holtz, but don't always agree with him. But then again, I doubt he would clean his own stamps anyway. Most likely he has someone do that for him behind the scenes.
I also don't understand how someone could get the wood mount of the stamp dirty. The wood doesn't touch the ink pad. You are supposed to put the rubber part to the ink pad. I don't understand why someone would cover the wood mount with a varnish or whatever either.
These are just my opinions. But I will also say that all my stamps now are just plain rubber, no wood or foam.
If I bought stamps off Ebay (which I would never do), and they were dirty in anyway, I would return them. The exception to this would be if the description said they were dirty or stained. Degree of dirty or stained varies greatly between people. Mostly, (in my opinion) dirty stamps shows a lack of caring for your crafting tools.
Regarding the wood staining, I remember a post a couple years ago in which someone mentioned they used clear nail polish on the wood so that the ink would just wipe off the wooden part. I thought that was a fairly good idea but I usually was barely able wait to get my SU stamps mounted before using them let alone paint the wood with clear nail polish to let it dry. I'm not advocating this method. It was just something I read. Also, I think any further SU sets I get will be left unmounted and I will use the cling foam that I have been using on some other unmounted rubber lines I've been buying. This way there is no wood to worry about staining.
If I were you, I would log on to ebay and where you give that person a review, put your thoughts and rate it. That is just unacepptable.
If they didn't claim it was clean nor dirty, you really can't complain. It obviously isn't someone who stamps seriously or they would at least have it water cleaned. The seller idea of how to care for stamps is obviously different that most of us here.
Fortunately for the buyer, it cleaned up......as they usually do.
__________________ Ann Here is my oily blog! CLICK HERE Certified Copic Instructor - Local ClassesI love cars, stamping and essential oils!
I also don't understand how someone could get the wood mount of the stamp dirty. The wood doesn't touch the ink pad. You are supposed to put the rubber part to the ink pad. I don't understand why someone would cover the wood mount with a varnish or whatever either.Patti
Patti
I get ink on my wood all the time. All you have to do is rock the stamp and the wood will dip into the ink. I remember going to see the gal who owns Art Impressions. She was doing a free demo at our LSS. She used black ink to stamp all her images and her stamps and wood blocks were totally black!
__________________ Ann Here is my oily blog! CLICK HERE Certified Copic Instructor - Local ClassesI love cars, stamping and essential oils!
Ink on a stamp doesn't affect the stamping of the stamp actually on the acrylic stamps they stamp better with ink on them. You can't also judge a person by the ink on their stamp and think that means their house is dirty LOL. I don't clean my stamps as a rule sometimes I do and sometimes i don't cause to me they look cleaner in cleaned but of course mine are all um so their is no wood but my house is spotless (Except Scraproom haha)
I clean my stamps after each use also. Then I let them air dry before I put them away. I use mostly black ink also but after reading all the comments in this thread, I am wondering if it I need to clean after each use. ;)
I clean mine before I put them away. Note that I didn't say "right after I use them" because I usually just leave everything on my stamp table after I'm done and then clean it all up before I start working again.
HOWEVER, I will say that my very first rubber stamp was a Mary Engelbreit stamp I bought in 1985 to stamp the back of my Christmas card envelopes (had no clue about MAKING cards with stamps then!) I only used red ink with it, so I never cleaned it...didn't know you had to.
12 years later, when I started stamping obsessively, I dug that stamp out of the box I had stored it in. I hadn't used it in years. I cleaned it up and it still stamps as good as new. So I'm not thinking that not cleaning the stamp is going to dry it out all that much. I have actually found that I have to recondition older rubber that has sat unused for over a year...it needs to be roughed up a bit like a new solid stamp to stamp well.
{Anyway, I sat down ready for a couple hours of work to clean it off and with one swipe on the scrubber(doused with Awesome), I was able to see the red rubber.}
I found out about Awesome from someone on this site and use it too. I have had soooo much success with that stuff.
Someone mentioned " how is it possible to get in on the wood", I don't know but it happens to me all of the time.
Back to the original question. I clean my stamps at the end of the session or if I am switching colors, but I am not obsessed about this at all. I don't plan on selling my stamps. Some I have had for ten years and they all work fine.
how are you guys storing your stamps, for those who don't clean them? if they're clear stamps on the acetate sheets, doesn't it get really dirty??
I keep my dirty stamps in a basket until I clean them. Clear stamps I stick on top of their CD case until I clean them - but I do have a tendancy to clean the clear stamps when I finished.
also, as someone else said, my clear stamps that have been stained with black ink seem to stamp better.
I have been stamping for a fair few years now and must admit I never clean my stamps, I just stamp them off onto scrap paper so that they won't transfer ink onto a different inkpad the next time I use them. I did buy a bottle of stamp cleaner about 4 years ago but I've never opened it. I have many stamps that I have been using heavily for years and they are still as good as new, so it doesn't seem to do them any harm.
(but yes, if I was selling them on ebay - which I would never do as I intend to be buried with ALL my stamps lol - I would clean them first )
I used to clean (brush scrub under running water with homemade cleaner) my stamps right after each use, then I started delaying until the end of a stamping session. Now they can sit for weeks on my desk without being cleaned. Some stamps i stamp off on scrap paper and put away without any further cleaning! None of this has prevented any of the stamps from stamping clean images. I know several long time stampers that have never cleaned a stamp other than stamping off extra ink on scrap paper, and they have stained wood, but all have clean houses.
What is Awesome? And where does one buy it? :-) LM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ferg
{Anyway, I sat down ready for a couple hours of work to clean it off and with one swipe on the scrubber(doused with Awesome), I was able to see the red rubber.}
I found out about Awesome from someone on this site and use it too. I have had soooo much success with that stuff.
Someone mentioned " how is it possible to get in on the wood", I don't know but it happens to me all of the time.
Back to the original question. I clean my stamps at the end of the session or if I am switching colors, but I am not obsessed about this at all. I don't plan on selling my stamps. Some I have had for ten years and they all work fine.
Hi
You buy it at the 99 cent store. It comes in a 16 ounce spray bottle and is obviously very cheap. It says it is an all purpose cleaner and degreaser..no acid no ammonia..no bleach, but you might want to read the ingredients before you buy it to see what it does contain. I have been using it for a long time now and my stamps seem are still nice and conditioned. However, every now and then I will use "ultra clean" just in case.
When I put the stamp in the wet side of the scrub and move it around, sometimes it splashes a tiny bit onto the wood block! My scrub isn't soaking wet but even a bit of spray can do this. When I am using a lot of stamps and have more spray on the scrubby side, it happens more.
It still does not bother me a bit for if I notice it, I know that that stamp has gotten good use!
This same thing has happened to me. I was also misting the stamp directly with the cleaning solution, which also stains the wood. Doesn't bother me in the least.
Quote:
Originally Posted by dacpam
How do my wood blocks get ink on them????
Using the Stampin' Scrub!
When I put the stamp in the wet side of the scrub and move it around, sometimes it splashes a tiny bit onto the wood block! My scrub isn't soaking wet but even a bit of spray can do this. When I am using a lot of stamps and have more spray on the scrubby side, it happens more.
It still does not bother me a bit for if I notice it, I know that that stamp has gotten good use!
__________________ I DID learn everything I need to know in Kindergarten!
I have been stamping for a fair few years now and must admit I never clean my stamps, I just stamp them off onto scrap paper so that they won't transfer ink onto a different inkpad the next time I use them. I did buy a bottle of stamp cleaner about 4 years ago but I've never opened it. I have many stamps that I have been using heavily for years and they are still as good as new, so it doesn't seem to do them any harm.
(but yes, if I was selling them on ebay - which I would never do as I intend to be buried with ALL my stamps lol - I would clean them first )
I told my husband that some stamps will just have to be buried with me because I can't part with them. LOL.
Regarding the wood staining, I remember a post a couple years ago in which someone mentioned they used clear nail polish on the wood so that the ink would just wipe off the wooden part. I thought that was a fairly good idea but I usually was barely able wait to get my SU stamps mounted before using them let alone paint the wood with clear nail polish to let it dry. I'm not advocating this method. It was just something I read. Also, I think any further SU sets I get will be left unmounted and I will use the cling foam that I have been using on some other unmounted rubber lines I've been buying. This way there is no wood to worry about staining.
How sad am I??
After a friend managed to get ink ALL over the wooden blocks of the stamps I lent her (about 15) I decided that I would varnish all stamps in future. I use a quick drying varnish and give them a couple of coats. It takes a few minutes but is easy with the unmounted SU stamps and pays off in the long term - I have sold lots of old stamps on ebay for more than I paid as the stamps still looked like new. I appreciate when someone has taken time to care for their stamps and would prefer to have them as new myself.
[QUOTE=uberadam;10846506]me personally i am lazy. i have sold my used personal stamps both on ebay and off my web page, but i put a disclaimer that they are used and are not cleaned so the person buying them knows upfront. when i stamp now, i at least stamp off on scrap paper but you'll find lots of my own stamps that i don't clean unless i need to for changing colors. i mostly stamp with black ink to index.[/QUOTE]
Actually, what a co-incidence. I just bought a stamp from you on ebay. A great big crystal ball. I was a little surprised when the stamp arrived with ink on it, but I washed it, and it's as good as new. I left positive feedback - I appreciated the quick shipment. You're a great ebay seller, but it is slightly disconcerting to have the stamp arrive inked, when it could have been quickly cleaned up before shipping. But I still have you listed as one of my favorites, so it's no big deal I guess.
__________________ A good dog, a sewing machine, and an old guitar......
I just wipe mine over with a alcohol free baby wipe, wood block and acrylics, and they all look like new. As someone else said, I can't imagine actually selling a dirty stamp.
I'm way too much of a neat freak to not clean my stamps.
And I guess that I don't see it as "okay" because big name people like Tim Holtz or Judith (Stamps by Judith) do it. I figure that they can afford to replace any stamp that they might ruin. In fact, I'd hazard a guess that they didn't pay for them to begin with nor would they have to pay for replacements. ;)
On the other hand, I paid good money for my stamps and don't care to have to replace them. <shrug> To each their own.
