Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
However, I've noticed that in the past few years I can't find a brand of hinges which don't curl up almost beyond use while stored in their original packaging. I would say I can use maybe 500 of 1,000 hinges per pack but have to discard the rest due to curling. Any suggestions on a brand of hinges which won't curl as badly?
I live in the deep south and maybe humidity has something to do with it but we keep the AC cranked down to a comfortable 73 - 74 and don't see any other humidity problems. I would truly appreciate any tips or advice to help me deal with this. I don't recall this as a problem 10 years ago but it seems to be increasing yearly now.
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07:42:47pm
Try storing the opened pack of hinges inside the pages of an old book. Possibly remove a few pages from the center of the book so as not to place too much pressure on the package (which may make the hinges stick to each other if there is any humidity).
Might also keep that book inside a cigar box (or similar) with a silica pack as an additional step.
Roy
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Thanks Roy... I'll give that a try!
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04:24:42pm
I took the corner of a used Express Mail envelope, cut it so that I had a pouch that was double thickness sand lightly wider then the hinge envelopes and just a bit shorter so the top 3/8" peeked out.
Then I taped the inner edges together giving me a pouch to store the opened hinge envelope.
The stiffness is enough to keep the hinges flat as designed and as I need a dozen or two hinges I can pull the hinge envelope out, remove enough hinges to work with and then slide the envelope back intonthe pouch.
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I empty my Dennisen stamp hinges (not the original Dennison hinges)out of the original paper package into a Ziploc hard plastic container that has a lid on it.
Although I do not live in a very high humidity area like some of you, I have not had a problem with hinges curling since I started removing them from the paper packaging.
I keep the container inside a closed desk drawer that has a small plastic container (no lid) containing a couple of silica packs sitting inside the drawer.
Liz
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Hi everyone;
The Silica Gel that Liz mentions is available in many forms. The small ones that come with meds, about the size of a salt pack from McDonalds, sometimes are not real useful. They are just too small. They are packaged in paper and can't be recycled either.
The best kind to get is a commercial grade of desiccant. One brand is "Performance Dry™". It comes in a tyvek packaging 2" x 4", about 2 oz. and large size 4" x 6", about 4-5 oz. It is recharged in an ordinary kitchen oven at 245ºF for 16 hours. The Tyvek material can take very high temperatures required to recycle this product.
Most of my loose stamps are housed in a metal cabinet. There is one large and one small pack on the middle shelf. I have three boxes of envelopes full of about 35,000 stamps per box, with one medium pack in each box. That's one 2 oz. pack per 35,000 stamps.
Altho this type of Silica Gel is probably more expensive than others, it is in tyvek and can be baked in the oven to recycle. You should recycle at the end of each humid summer. Unless you live in Florida, where it is humid all the time, then you should just move away. 
In an emergency you can use ordinary raw rice, the cheap stuff (not Uncle Ben's). it can also be heated in the oven to drive off the moisture, and re-used several times, or you can just eat it, and when co-workers ask what you had for supper last night, you can say, "we had stir-fry over a bed of desiccant".
Keep on stampin
Ken Tall Pines
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30+ year member APS; member of ATA, ISWSC, ATA, PSS, MSS, PMCC, FDCS
15 Sep 2014
12:26:43am
I've been a collector for 50 years... continuously for the past 30 years. I've seen the quality of stamp hinges go steadily downhill during this time (as you all have as well). I know there aren't any truly "peelable" hinges on the market today and this post isn't about that old problem.
However, I've noticed that in the past few years I can't find a brand of hinges which don't curl up almost beyond use while stored in their original packaging. I would say I can use maybe 500 of 1,000 hinges per pack but have to discard the rest due to curling. Any suggestions on a brand of hinges which won't curl as badly?
I live in the deep south and maybe humidity has something to do with it but we keep the AC cranked down to a comfortable 73 - 74 and don't see any other humidity problems. I would truly appreciate any tips or advice to help me deal with this. I don't recall this as a problem 10 years ago but it seems to be increasing yearly now.
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15 Sep 2014
07:42:47pm
re: Any suggestions for stamp hinges which don't curl up in the package??
Try storing the opened pack of hinges inside the pages of an old book. Possibly remove a few pages from the center of the book so as not to place too much pressure on the package (which may make the hinges stick to each other if there is any humidity).
Might also keep that book inside a cigar box (or similar) with a silica pack as an additional step.
Roy
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30+ year member APS; member of ATA, ISWSC, ATA, PSS, MSS, PMCC, FDCS
15 Sep 2014
09:56:22pm
re: Any suggestions for stamp hinges which don't curl up in the package??
Thanks Roy... I'll give that a try!
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Silence in the face of adversity is the father of complicity and collusion, the first cousins of conspiracy..
16 Sep 2014
04:24:42pm
re: Any suggestions for stamp hinges which don't curl up in the package??
I took the corner of a used Express Mail envelope, cut it so that I had a pouch that was double thickness sand lightly wider then the hinge envelopes and just a bit shorter so the top 3/8" peeked out.
Then I taped the inner edges together giving me a pouch to store the opened hinge envelope.
The stiffness is enough to keep the hinges flat as designed and as I need a dozen or two hinges I can pull the hinge envelope out, remove enough hinges to work with and then slide the envelope back intonthe pouch.
Login to Like
this post
re: Any suggestions for stamp hinges which don't curl up in the package??
I empty my Dennisen stamp hinges (not the original Dennison hinges)out of the original paper package into a Ziploc hard plastic container that has a lid on it.
Although I do not live in a very high humidity area like some of you, I have not had a problem with hinges curling since I started removing them from the paper packaging.
I keep the container inside a closed desk drawer that has a small plastic container (no lid) containing a couple of silica packs sitting inside the drawer.
Liz
Login to Like
this post
re: Any suggestions for stamp hinges which don't curl up in the package??
Hi everyone;
The Silica Gel that Liz mentions is available in many forms. The small ones that come with meds, about the size of a salt pack from McDonalds, sometimes are not real useful. They are just too small. They are packaged in paper and can't be recycled either.
The best kind to get is a commercial grade of desiccant. One brand is "Performance Dry™". It comes in a tyvek packaging 2" x 4", about 2 oz. and large size 4" x 6", about 4-5 oz. It is recharged in an ordinary kitchen oven at 245ºF for 16 hours. The Tyvek material can take very high temperatures required to recycle this product.
Most of my loose stamps are housed in a metal cabinet. There is one large and one small pack on the middle shelf. I have three boxes of envelopes full of about 35,000 stamps per box, with one medium pack in each box. That's one 2 oz. pack per 35,000 stamps.
Altho this type of Silica Gel is probably more expensive than others, it is in tyvek and can be baked in the oven to recycle. You should recycle at the end of each humid summer. Unless you live in Florida, where it is humid all the time, then you should just move away.
In an emergency you can use ordinary raw rice, the cheap stuff (not Uncle Ben's). it can also be heated in the oven to drive off the moisture, and re-used several times, or you can just eat it, and when co-workers ask what you had for supper last night, you can say, "we had stir-fry over a bed of desiccant".
Keep on stampin
Ken Tall Pines
2 Members
like this post.
Login to Like.