Kerry’s Paper Crafts

My collection of clear stamps is rapidly growing. If you’ve watched any of my recent videos you know that I like to use them a LOT

Every now & then the stamps get a little grungy & need some cleaning up. I’m not so much referencing the staining of stamps, as all clear stamps will stain over time. I use a lot of chalk inks & I’m not the *best* at cleaning them right away when I use them - so you might consider my collection of clear stamps very stained well loved.

An example of the sad day (today) when said stamp no longer clings nicely to the acrylic block:

A closeup view of the “yuck” on the back of the stamp (where it clings to block).

The good news is that cleaning these stamps is super simple. All you need is a little warm water & soap. I run them under the water & just use some regular hand soap and rub back & forth with my hands. Don’t use anything other than your fingers - you don’t need a scrubbing pad - all you’re looking to do is get rid of that layer of grime (in my case it’s usually powders & dust that build up).

OK here’s the most important part: when you’re all done rinsing, simply place the stamps on the counter to air dry. DON’T pat them dry with a towel, paper towel, tissue, etc. - that will defeat your efforts of getting rid of the dust As long as you let them sit out for a little while & air dry, they will be nice & sticky again, just like new. I flip mine over after they’ve been sitting out for a bit to ensure both sides dry nicely. (Pete is then under STRICT instructions to stay AWAY from the upstairs bathroom sink for fear of me losing a stamp somewhere, haha.)

OH and are a few tips for cleaning your acrylic blocks. Mine were getting SUPER dirty. They were full of adhesive, ink, powder, dust…ugh…everything. So I finally bought some Ultra Clean from Hero Arts - (I am pretty sure you can get this most anywhere - there are quite a few manufacturers out there.) Anyway, this stuff cleans EVERYTHING. It’s awesome. It even gets rid of StazOn. I spritz some on my blocks & my self-healing mat to get ride of the grime. It does leave a slight film on the surface though - so I usually run them under water to get rid of this film. (FYI: you want to be careful when using Ultra Clean on your blocks & Cling stamps - I have heard that the Ultra Clean can affect the way the unmounted stamps cling to the block).

That’s all for now. If you have any other cleaning questions, let me know & I will help you out if I can!

Do you find it hilarious that I’m posting about cleaning tonight, when you can clearly see the disastrous state of my craft desk in the backdrop of that last photo?!??!?

OY.

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