Tire cleaner for nasty stained stamps?

[Wnderlnd]

Hi,
I have been trading and buying several stamps sets lately, especially retired ones. I received one set that is practically BLACK with stains. I don't really care about eh staining on the wood, but I am scared to even try this set on my ink pads to see if they will stamp well. (I was told there would, but never told about the staining!)

Anyhoo, I have read where lots of people swear by different cleaners, but no one has mentiond TIRE CLEANER from the auto parts store. My DH has some can of stuff that seriously cleans our tires incredibly and I figure it is made for RUBBER tires, so maybe it would be okay just once to get these back inot reasonable shapre. What do you think?

What do you use and how well does it work?

Should I tell the other person that I am disappointed this set came to me so badly?

[jeanstamping2]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wnderlnd

Hi,
I have been trading and buying several stamps sets lately, especially retired ones. I received one set that is practically BLACK with stains. I don't really care about eh staining on the wood, but I am scared to even try this set on my ink pads to see if they will stamp well. (I was told there would, but never told about the staining!)

Anyhoo, I have read where lots of people swear by different cleaners, but no one has mentiond TIRE CLEANER from the auto parts store. My DH has some can of stuff that seriously cleans our tires incredibly and I figure it is made for RUBBER tires, so maybe it would be okay just once to get these back inot reasonable shapre. What do you think?

What do you use and how well does it work?

Should I tell the other person that I am disappointed this set came to me so badly?

I don't know if it would work or not. But I would take a stamp that I really didn't care about and use it on this one first.
I use Permanet Ink remover from Judkin. It will remove most any ink from rubber and clothes.

I have bought stamp on Ebay and Yahoo auctions and I have gotten some stamps that I really wanted to throw back at the seller, Because of the Thick Black ink that they used and never cleaned!!
So A friend told me about the ink remover from judkin...And it cleaned them really well.
Now if they would invent something to clean the wood...then I'd be set.....lol

[Wnderlnd]

Nancy,
We are practically neighbors...I live in Wheaton. Thanks for responding. Where do you find Judkin ink remover?

Trying the tire cleaner on a cheap stamp is a good idea....I know I have a few of those, but since they aren't black like these, I don't know if it will tell me much.

Some folks have talked about yellow ink, and I have an old style pad of yo yo yellow, but I'd hate to try it, not have it owrk, and ruin my perfectly good yellow ink pad.

Thanks,
Alice

[Kimmerriffic]

I just get cheap ole orange cleaner form the Dollar Tree.
It works BETTER than anything I have tried.
Even better than Staz on cleaner!
I figure for a dollar they are not gonna put anything too bad enough to hurt the rubber...LOL
You just have to dilute it wayyyy down so it is not so sudsy! HTH KIM

[michlz319]

How funny......we're all so close! I live on the Oswego/Montgomery border!
WooHoo! Stamping neighbors!

[jeninmt2001]

I actually called my SU dealer on Saturday about the same problem, black ink on stamps. She told me to use the Bold Brights stamp pad called yo-yo yellow and it worked! I was amazed, but then you get to buy a new yo-yo yellow, but it's worth it.

All I did was keep stamping (about 2 or 3 times) and it came off on the paper. I did buy a new yo-yo- yellow stamp pad, but now I have one just for cleaning the permanent black stampin up black or anything else off my stamps!

I was having problems with black ink of my stampin around wheels, and they came pretty clean, too!

[jeninmt2001]

oops - clicked twice!

[Wnderlnd]

I am really not sure that yo you yellow is going to owrk for this...I even found gunked up arcrylic paint on the edges.

I am bummed. I looked a little closer this AM with DH and I think the rubber is starting to dry out a little too. I think I will consider trying my yo yo yellow pad once I get some of the other stuff off. (My pad is the old style, but it still stamps really well, so I'd hate to ruin it if I don't have to.) I dont' really care about light staining from the black ink, but this is WAY BEYOND that. There is stuff caked into the crevices of the stamp, so I don't think it will even stamp well.

[Linda Seaman]

Have you tried Dawn Power Dissolver? In the detergent aisle at grocery store, blue spray bottle. It is intended for baked on greasy dishes, etc. I have had alot of luck with this stuff. Someone gave me some old, very old badly stained and caked on black pigment ink stamps, cleaned them with this stuff and a toothbrush, wow! what a difference. I think this stuff may have been on the stamps years, or so she said she hadn't used them in years! Linda

[stampwithdee]

Maybe you could try a few drops of the yoyo yellow reinker - that way you wouldn't ruin your stamp pad and dab on a paper towel? I am going to try that on some of my stained up, well-loved, workshop stamps!

[Wnderlnd]

I just love everyone's advice and support here! Thank you! I decided to go ahead and try the tire cleaner, because that is what I have here. I sprayed it onto a plate and then stamped into the foam...it worked really well. I let the foam do it's work and then scrubed with a toothbrush and my fingernails and most of it came off....there was an entire layer of glitter that slid off!!!!

Some of the rubber still looks stained, but it appears to have seeped deep down into the actually rubber itself. I then cleaned the cleaner off with regular gentle dishwashing soap so they were squeaky clean. THEN, I stamped into the yo yo yellow and not a speckle of the black came off on the pad and they stamped perfectly good yellow images--several times. Finally, I cleaned the yellow off with SU Stampin Mist and the scrub.

They still look quite worn, but they aren't gross anymore. My arm hurts from scrubbing with the toothbrush. I don't care much that the wood is stained...that happens pretty easily, but I do care about the stamped images and the care of the rubber stamp itself. Hopefully, this will never happen to me again, but if it does, then I know another way of cleaning.

I think if they were just stained, rather than gunked up, I would have tried some of the other tried and true methods. I am going to look for this same set again because it is one I want to keep for a long time and I think the rubber has taken its toll. At least it's usable for now!

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

[kianha]

I was just searching tonight looking for how to get ink off furniture and found this thread. Hi, neighbors!

[Wnderlnd]

Hi Kianha! How fun is that! I was just checking a few threads before going to bed and saw your post.

Hmmm, ink off furniture...what kind of furniture? Wood? I once had to remove paint from a dresser after I had my bedroom professionally painted. They set a metallic paint container on a canvas drop cloth and it seeped through. It was a cleaner that is designed to remove water stains and rings from antique furniture. I needed to be gentle so I didn't remove the finish, but it worked and it has been several years with no ill after effects visible on the wood.

I think I still have the bottle. I will look inthe AM and repost.

[kianha]

Thanks for the quick reply! The furniture in question is a wood dining room table that one of my customers owns. I guess she was using a wheel stamp and got carried away! She had just had this table refinished not long ago and is really bummed that she did this. I told her I'd try and find an answer for her, if I could, so any help would be appreciated!

[Mahloumel]

What a great thread. Now I have a few different options to try to get the dried acrylic paint off of one of my old stamps!

[judi_stamparooni]

Just yesterday I used a laundry stain stick on some stamps that were stained by Stayzon ink. I rubbed the wet stamp on the stain stick and then let them sit for maybe 10 min and then cleaned them of on my stampin scrub. It worked great!

[Wnderlnd]

Judi, What brand stain stick?

Kianha,
It is called Restor-A-Finish. It comes in an 8 ounce metal can. On the back is has the following info: Howard Products, Inc. Paso Robles, CA 93446; (805) 227-1000; www.howardproducts.com

It says that it restores wood finsihes without dissolving existing finish. I don't know where they sell it in Wheaton because I bought it at an antique furniture store that no longer exists. Looks like there is a link on the website; I hope that helps!!!

[nickelini]

Why do you need to remove the staining? Is it affecting anything?

Quote:

Originally Posted by stampwithdee

Maybe you could try a few drops of the yoyo yellow reinker - that way you wouldn't ruin your stamp pad and dab on a paper towel? I am going to try that on some of my stained up, well-loved, workshop stamps!

You know, that's a good idea. But instead of a paper towel, use a baby wipe. The ink doesn't spread as much on the baby wipe.

[KateStamps]

I do not know if this will work with the table, but I know we once had a coffee table that had been seriously abused (think college students, paint cans and soda rings) and my mother got almost everything off using mayonaise. Lots of it, and lots of rubbing, but something about the richness of it. Those cup/can rings just faded to nothing.

Don't know f it would work with ink, but it might, and it sure is cheap.

Kate

[Wnderlnd]

Nikelini,
Regular staining onthe wood doesn't bother me at all. Regular staining on the rubber is typical too with the black ink. As you have read, some of the regular staining will ruin lighter colors, especially yo yo yellow ink pads. The staining and GUNK that was on the stamps I received was inhibiting the impression. a thick layer of glitter ended up sliding off...it was really gross.

[jm_donahoe]

I did bleach stamping with a stained set and after I was done with my project and rinsed the bleach off, the rubber sparkled like new again. Bleach will get anything out. Here is my formula:

little tupperware dish with paper towel folded in the bottom. 1 part bleach to 2 parts water. Then use the dish/towel as an ink pad. This also got some of the stains off the wood. Not all, but some. Hope this helps you all!

Oh, and make sure you rinse really well after in plain water and clean with the Stampin mist because it has moisturizer that will protect the rubber from getting dried out.

[jeanstamping2]

Quote:

Originally Posted by judi_stamparooni

Just yesterday I used a laundry stain stick on some stamps that were stained by Stayzon ink. I rubbed the wet stamp on the stain stick and then let them sit for maybe 10 min and then cleaned them of on my stampin scrub. It worked great!

I have also used "SHOUT" stain cleaner the one with the scrub brush attachment.

I worked really well for some of the one that had tough black ink stains.


Wnderlnd: The Ink Cleaner by Judi kin you can find in most Craft stores, I'm pretty sure I found it in Michaels.

My bottle is white with Pink and green wording on it.

Rubber Stamp Fabric & Permanent Ink Cleaner. CLF001

Oh Yeah! How cool we are Neighbors!!!!!!;)

[judi_stamparooni]

The stain stick I used is 'Spray n' Wash' brand.

One thing you might want to watch if you use this... it's probably good to get any ink color off the stain stick with a tissue or something before you use it on clothes again!

As for wondering why you need to get the stain off, I had the set Pasture Birthday. It was the first set I ever got. I always used it with black ink and then watercolored it. The stamps were BLACK! I didn't care because I only used them with black. But one day (I'd had them about 4 years) I went to use them and noticed that the rubber was getting hard and slick feeling. ARGH!!!! Horror! I ran to Michaels and got a Kiss-Off stick because I heard it was good and reconditioned the rubber. I used it, letting it sit on the stamps for a while, and re-cleaned them about 5 times - but you know what, the rubber cleaned up and got softer again!

Another thing about cleaning off the stain. If you have a build up, even if you clean the stamps off with water or wipes or whatever, if you have build up and use a lighter color pad you will get some contamination on your pad and your image will not stamp a true color. (At least that's what I've found)

II used my stain stick the other day because I couldn't find my Kiss-Off and I was desperate to get the Stayz-on off my stamps because I've heard it is extra bad for your stamps. And the stain stick seemed to work really good too!

FYI: Kiss-Off is an artist's brush cleaner, looks like a great big white chapstick with red letters, and can be found in the 'real artist' department with the brushes!
HTH!