Unmounting Wood Stamps

FWIW, you don't even need to use cling foam.

I unmounted mine down to the rubber. I used a fine point Sharpie to write on the back of the rubber who the manufacturer was, because I didn't want to lose that info. Then I painted Aleen's Tack-It-Over-and-Over on the back of the rubber. I use a stamping pad under my cardstock since I omitted the foam, and I get a better impression than with the foam.

A friend of mine unmounted hers and used the cling foam. When she found out what I did, she was kind of sorry she had bothered with the cling foam, but some people do prefer the foam backing.

It takes far less room to store my stamps since they are unmounted, and even less since mine are down to the bare rubber. It was probably faster, which was helpful for me because I unmounted over 2,000 rubber stamps. I got rid of a huge amount of weight for when we eventually move. I also find it easier to position my stamps the way I want since they are on a clear block instead of wood. I could use a stamp positioner, but most of the time I don't feel a need.

No regrets for unmounting my stamps. At. All.

Whether you choose to use the cling foam or go to the bare rubber, I think it is well worth it. Good luck!

You can get stamp pads anywhere, there is a redish colored one by Darice at J's or M's or Inkadinkado has two new ones out, one is 8x8 and one is 12 x 12. I don't like having to pull out my mat everytime I want to stamp so that's a reason that I chose the foam on my stamps. THey stamp perfectly without the mat Either way works though.

The one by Darice is the one I use.

If you have ever used Close to My Heart stamps, they come with a thin foam mat. Each set has one. It is completely different from the Darice one, but it is the same principle. All you need is a slight cushion under your paper or cardstock. You can even just use a magazine.

To get out the stamping mat only takes a few seconds to pull out and position. I repeat, a few seconds. Unmounting my 2,000 stamps would have been a much bigger headache if I had used the cling foam, and it really doesn't bother me to use a mat. It's no worse than having to get out an ink pad to use my stamps. I keep my stamping mat with my scoring board and envelope maker. I always have those three tools handy when I stamp.

A friend of mine was unmounting her stamps at the same time I was unmounting mine. She used the cling foam because she didn't know you could use the bare rubber method. Both systems work fine, and both save space. My way does save more space, which matters if you unmount and store a lot of stamps.

We are both happy that we unmounted them, which was your initial question. I have read posts in other threads where a few people were not as happy that they unmounted theirs, but they seemed to be in the minority overall. I suggest you unmount only a few stamps first and see if you like stamping with the unmounted stamps before you unmount all of your stamps.

I have some unmounted rubber stamps that have either cling mount or the Tack it Over on it. I store them either in CD cases or I just stick them to a page protector in my stamp binder. They hold up phenomenally well on those plastic page protectors!

Not only have I unmounted a number of my wood mounted stamps, I purchased many unmounted as well.  Some are down to the bare rubber others have a cushion still attached.  I am too lazy to go and remove all the cushion, so they will stay as is.  The only disadvantage I have is that the Alene's Tack-It over and over again DOES need renewing every 5-8 years, especially for the stamps you might use often. 

I have the Imagine Crafts light blue mat that does a great job for adding cushion and being a great work surface for all kinds of stamping related activities.  I also have the Darice pink mat but prefer the Imagine Crafts.

My unmounted stamps are stored on page protectors that have chipboard liners with with cardstock and the image stamped on it.  The manufacturers names are written on this sheet as well.  I keep them in hanging folders in plastic file boxes.  They stay nice and clean and I don't have to search much to find the stamp I want.  I recently reviewed all my stamps and unmounted a number of them.  So I am much more familiar with my current stash.  My acrylic stamps are stored in light-weight pronged folders with divided page protectors.  The stamps slip into the pockets along with the manufacturers info.  The top pockets have a small piece of painters tape to hold it closed so the stamps do not slip out.  I label the folders by themes and that helps me tremendously.

NO REGRETS here either!

I've been contemplating writing a blog post about my stamp storage . . . maybe later this week?  I will link it up in this thread when I do.  I know that scrapnnana has a blog post up about her storage.  Mine is a bit different, but works for me.

As promised, I have finished my blog post about organizing Stamps, go here to read all about it! 

My storage is not necessarily the "pretty" as I say, magazine worthy craft room.  But it works for me!  I have few more organization posts in the works.  Storage of:  Wafer thin dies, stamps & wafer thin dies that coordinate, punches, inks, paper scraps, etc.