So.. Your acrylic stamps have lost their stick... Well, here's a fast answer to revitalize your stamps...

What to do…

1. take packing tape and apply it to the BACK of the stamp. Making sure it’s stuck to the stamp and covers the entire surface. Use more than one piece if needed.

2. Leave it for an hour or so on the tape

3. Peel tape off (This will lift off any residue that may be on the back of the stamp. more times than not it will appear to be white-ish. this is from handling and from the storage method).

4. take the mentho liquid and rub it into the back of the stamp (front too if you like your stamps to be sticky on both sides, like me)

5. rinse under hot water and AIR dry. Do not blot dry or towel dry. there may be oils on the towel that may get on the stamp and you’ll be right back where you started.

why do acrylics lose their stick?
there are a couple of reasons…1. they are stored on the packing material they came in.
Transparencies are coated with a solution to help them feed through a printer or copier. After time the coating comes off and leaves a residue on your stamp. (Have you ever seen old stamps in stores that have yellowed and are loose in the packing? That’s why!)

Solution: Store in a CD case or transfer to another form of storage that is not a transparency.

2. Use! Plain and simple, you use them, they’ll loose their stick eventually. Some faster than others and some not so fast. Just depends on conditions.

Solution: Clean your stamps with proper cleaner, NEVER use plain old dish or hand soap. These soaps have moisturizer and lanolin in them. Once these oils get on your stamp, it’s going to loose it’s Stick.

Store in a protected area so dust can not build up on them. Once a stamp is dusty, it may as well be thrown away. It’s hard to clean all the dust off and usually, you won’t get it all off and you will have dust particles or spots in your images.

ALWAYS clean your Acrylic Blocks!!!! This can not be stressed enough. NEVER clean with regular soap and water. Always use the SAME cleaner you use to clean your stamps with! This will condition your blocks as well as your stamps. And it helps to reduce ink stain on your blocks.

PS This works better than alcohol wipes! AND for pete’s sake, NEVER EVER CLEAN YOUR ACRYLIC STAMPS WITH BABY WIPES!!!! For the same reason as not to use hand soap! The moisturizers will get all over them.

Brought to you by: Queen Kat Designs Acrylic Stamps