CLEANING your NEWLY PURCHASED stamps:
Many people don't realize just how important it is to CLEAN your NEW rubber stamps BEFORE using them for the first time. I'm including this post (Thanks to Patty Bennett and Pat Huntoon for these tips!) so that you will know how to give them a good cleaning to get a perfect impression from your stamps.
Hmm... does this ever happen to you??? Probably not.. it's probably just me... but... if you have experienced this, I have a solution for you !
When you mount a brand new "bold/solid image" stamp set, do you ever get a splotchy image like this when you ink and stamp it for the first few times?
Well, if you do.. I have a solution for you... grab your trusty Stampin' Up! Sanding Blocks:
and gently sand the rubber - all over - all directions:
then clean your stamp on your Stampin' Up! Stampin' Scrub, re-ink your stamp and VOILA:
Isn't that much better??? Wanna see it again?
And now here's Pat Huntoon's versions of CLEANING your NEW stamps...
After the rubber stamp manufacturing process, a thin layer of residue remains on the rubber that needs to be removed before using your stamps. This is especially important with bold or solid images.
Below is a comparison of two images stamped from my balloon; one before conditioning and one after. I made a true effort to really try to get a full image when stamping the "before" image. This side-by-side comparison of the same stamp after conditioning really shows the difference:
Below are several ways to condition your stamps before you use them to help the ink to grasp the rubber and transfer to the paper in the best possible way. These represent the various ways that I use personally to condition my stamps.
StazOn Cleaner
Personally, I think this works the best. The solvent in the StazOn cleaner is strong enough to remove the film on the stamp. I like to douse my stamp with the solvent, rub it several times on my stamp scrubber, then clean it again with my regular stamp cleaner.
Sanding Block
I use this method frequently. Gently sand the stamp with a sanding block in one direction, then 90 degrees in the other direction. Then clean with stamp cleaner. This method tends to freak people out, but honestly, a gentle sanding does NOT hurt your stamp.
Eraser
This was the way I originally learned how to condition my stamps. This is a great solution for removing the film, but it takes some elbow grease! Rub your eraser all over your stamp, then clean with a stamp cleaner and scrubber.
After conditioning, test the stamp by inking and stamping again. If the image looks blotchy, condition the stamp again before using. One additional note -- It is critical that good paper is used for bold stamps. Cheap paper will look blotchy no matter what!
Thank you Patty and Pat for teaching us some great basic steps to stamping some great cards!
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