How to Preserve Your Stamps

How to Preserve Your Stamps Every stamp collector is faced with the need to properly handle and preserve the items regardless of the reason for the collection. There is no way you can preserve them without the proper tools as well as the knowledge on how to go about the handling and preservation process. This therefore makes it important to know the best ways of handling them.It is first very important to know that stamps come in printed materials which are mostly paper. The paper will tend to get damaged as a result of paper acid, chemicals and oils from your hands, different temperatures especially when exposed to direct sunlight. As a way of preserving the historical importance, value and the beauty of your stamps, proper handling is essential.

Always ensure that you handle the stamps using a good pair of tweezers or stamp tongs. The tip is the part to be used when the need to move the stamps arises only mounting a considerable amount of pressure to avoid damaging them. The stamp tongs are mostly made of light metal or even plastic and can be found from hobby stores or online stores. Stamp shows will also have important tools such as tweezers up for sale. When looking for the best album to keep your collection, ensure that you go for one that is acid free to eliminate the possibility of getting damaged. The stamp slots in the album you go for should be good enough to securely hold the stamps as well as make it easy to remove and replace the stamps whenever the need to do so arises.
Avoid writing or marking the stamps and instead put the necessary details of each philately in a notebook or available space below the album if any at all. There are used, new or unused and damaged stamps. Regardless of what you have, every stamp needs to be handled with utmost care as though they were all new. Used or cancelled stamps will come still attached to the envelope or will have a paper piece at the back. To successfully remove the paper, soak the stamp in clean water and let them stay till they float free from the paper. Use a pair of tongs to remove them and allow drying before carefully placing on the album. This is a simple way of removing the stamps without any form of damage on them.