As I recall from my years of medieval manuscript studies, the
principle constituents of ink are a pigment of some sort (oak gall
was popular in the 1400's) and a carrier, often gum arabic. I note
that gum arabic is still sold for just that purpose in art supply
shops, and wonder if a bottle might be a worthwhile investment?

(Gums are also used in low-fat food products to create mouth-feel--
maybe you could test this theory by freezing some salad dressing,
then reconstituting with xanthan gum?)

Interesting to note that the primary producer of gum arabic these
days is Sudan. Makes one wonder where those middle-aged monks got
theirs?

I wonder, however, if the ink is the issue: might the freezing have
caused the pad itself to break down? They are rather sponge-like, and
I could easily imagine cells breaking from the expansion...

And while I can appreciate your cynicism, I somehow think we might
excuse the ink pad manufacturers for not anticipating people leaving
their stamping supplies outside in freezing weather (or in the
freezer for that matter)! ;-)

Celt

> o Problem Statement: What's the best way to deal
> with/reconstitute/resurrect dye-ink stamp pads that have been
frozen
> solid/thawed on multiple occasions and now, defrosted, are nothing
> but a gloppy, sticky/glue like, inky mess ruining stamps & logbooks
> all along the way.
>
> o Background: Our recent power-letterboxing sessions around
tundra-
> like areas (both East & West Coasts in sub-freezing temps) of this
> great country have wrought certain havoc on several of our dye-ink
> stamp pads (affecting some colours more than others).
>
> o Discussion: It's almost as if the freeze/thaw/freeze/thaw cycle
> removed the water from the ink in the pads (evaporation?) and now
> they only contain select residual chemical components of the dye-
ink
> (that don't stamp very nicely). It seems, chemically speaking, as
> if the various chemical components of the ink separated in the
> freeze/thaw cycle never to re'mix' again. [[cynical input--could
it
> be 'controlled obsolescence?']]
>
> o Cry for help: It's bizarre and a financial nuisance! Anybody
> know any good tips/techniques/hints to solve this inky dilemma? ;)
>
> Thanks, in advance, for helping to dig us out of this inky
> calligraphic abyss (or should I say 'well'?)... ;)
>
> dvn2r ckr

Stamp pad woes, continued...

Oops--I wonder if this extra info will help point to a possible
solution to these ink pad woes (there are about 5 brand new full-
size dye-inkpads involved in this quandary--funny, it didn't happen
to the dozen 'cat eye' pigment ink pads nor the 15 various
paintbrush watercolour markers we also carried during these treks)?

I forgot to mention that these 'problematic' tundra-suffering stamp
pads, were brand new stamp pads (3 color multi-ink pads) opened just
prior to the first sub-zero multi-day outing in Boise. We
experienced said poorly stamping ink-pad 'woes' and then opened
another brand new ink-pad specifically for our East Coast stamping
travels (or rather stamping 'travails' in this case?) a few weeks
later (presuming that the first experience was just the result of a
one-time 'lemon' stamp pad). **Granted, our very first LBing ink
pad was made by the same company, same ink colors, everything the
same down to a 'T' as these 'problematic' ink pads and the first one
lasted over an entire year visiting/placing several hundred boxes in
the process without any problems. It ultimately retired to ink pad
heaven due to an unfortunate lack of ink!!!**

Each time, after the ink pad went through the freeze/thaw cycle, the
stamps (our signature stamps carved on PZ-Kut) literally 'stuck' not
only to the pad itself but also to the logbook/paper upone which we
impressed the image. Bizarre! This occurred even when stamping the
image indoors after the ink pad was given ample time to thaw (hours
& hours).

The resulting image wasn't even remotely the colour of the original
ink-pad colour--it was like deeper/lighter 'blotches' of a similar
shade with portions of the stamp not even getting any ink from the
pad--although, when inspecting it 'after inking & prior to
impressing' (what we affectionately refer to as the 'huff on the
stamp to remoisten the ink on the stamp' phase of stamping in) it
looked as if it had inked properly before we pressed it to the paper.

Also, the inks with the worst problems were the pink & purple shades.

Is this just life as it goes while letterboxing in frigid environs?
I wonder how folks in Alaska (or Minnesota or Upstate New York or
insert freezing cold locale of your choice here...) deal with this...

hmmmm...

dvn2r ckr

Is this just life as it goes while letterboxing in frigid environs?
I wonder how folks in Alaska (or Minnesota or Upstate New York or
insert freezing cold locale of your choice here...) deal with this...

hmmmm...

dvn2r ckr

Here in Upstate New York one thing we have learned is to layer our
clothes for the cold. In doing this it gives you many extra pockets
to put things in. As in ice fishing, keeping your bait worm, and un
frozen. This too works for stamp pads and stamps. If kept close to
your body heat they can't freeze. The short time that they are out
for use is not long enough for them to freeze.

OK, I *know* what you meant, but now I have this mental picture of ice
fishermen keeping their bait warm by plopping handfuls of wriggling
worms into pockets in pants, coats, etc........ and then wiggling and
jumping themselves as the bait refuses to behave....



Seriously, keeping stamps and pads reasonably warm seems like a very
good idea. Between the stamp material, the ink, the gum arabic, and the
stamp pad material itself....... well, that's a lot of substances that
might not respond terribly well to being frozen, much less frozen and
unfrozen several times. Some things just react differently when too
cold or hot........

Have a stampin' good day!
Pam



On Thursday, March 4, 2004, at 06:03 AM, teamdakota5 wrote:

>
> Is this just life as it goes while letterboxing in frigid environs?
> I wonder how folks in Alaska (or Minnesota or Upstate New York or
> insert freezing cold locale of your choice here...) deal with this...
>
> hmmmm...
>
> dvn2r ckr
>
> Here in Upstate New York one thing we have learned is to layer our
> clothes for the cold. In doing this it gives you many extra pockets
> to put things in. As in ice fishing, keeping your bait worm, and un
> frozen. This too works for stamp pads and stamps. If kept close to
> your body heat they can't freeze. The short time that they are out
> for use is not long enough for them to freeze.

It might be interesting to write the company that produced the stamp
pads and see what they have to say. Maybe they never imaged anyone
would be using their stamp pads under such extreme conditions? Maybe
they'll start putting warning labels on the ink pads: Do not store in
freezer or other cold places. Maybe they'll send you a bunch of
coupons for new stamps pads.

The possibilities are endless! =)

-- Ryan

This sounds similar to what happens to house paint
that is left out in the winter to freeze and becomes
useless as paint. Whatever vehicle is used in the
inkpads to float the pigment can't handle the cold.

Gum arabic is used with watercolors and gouache.
You might want to try it, it is expensive.....but
then only a little bit is used when mixed with water.
A.C.Moore and Michaels would have it in the artist
sections. This could be mixed up and then spritzed
on the pads.

Have you tried "Perfect Ink Refresher"? I found mine
at A.C.Moore and also have seen it online, maybe your
local Michael's or other crafts stores have it. It's
about $5.00 for a 4 oz. spray bottle.

catbead


--- In letterbox-usa@yahoogroups.com, "dvn2rckr"
wrote:
> Speaking of stamp pads...

> o Discussion: It's almost as if the freeze/thaw/freeze/thaw cycle
> removed the water from the ink in the pads (evaporation?) and now
> they only contain select residual chemical components of the
dye-ink
> (that don't stamp very nicely). It seems, chemically speaking, as
> if the various chemical components of the ink separated in the
> freeze/thaw cycle never to re'mix' again. [[cynical input--could
it
> be 'controlled obsolescence?']]

Thanks for the info & tips. Yes, I guess the gum/ink carrier
is 'suspended' in the ink formula, freezes/separates/thaws never to
remix similarly again--hence, the ensuing gloppy images. No, I
haven't tried the perfect ink refresher--I've simply been buying new
ink pads assuming the 'thawed/gloppy' ones were ruined. The pads
that suffered the worst problems were by Rubber Stampede, Crystal
Dye-based Ink pad ('fantasy' tri-colour pads). These are my
favorite ink pads to use and up until this 'sub-zero' experience I
hadn't had any problems with them except that after time (several
months) the pad would come unglued from the container--nothing
Household Goop adhesive couldn't solve in a few seconds--without
causing problems to the ink.

I wonder if the larger pigment ink pads suffer the same fate since
they make take longer to freeze when exposed to such frigid
conditions? I personally hesitate to use pigment ink pads on the
trail because it takes aeons to dry (if ever) and it usually just
ruins my logbook because they seem to smear over time. I haven't
had such problems with the Cat Eye little pigment ink pads (not sure
why they perform differently than the larger ink pads). I did
purchase some pigment pad inker (1 oz bottle of ink) to use to
refresh a pad but I haven't tried it yet--partially because I'm
still hesistant to use the pigment style ink versus the dye-ink. I
purchased it at Michael's and they only had the dye-ink version of
the pad inker in black--the other colour refills were pigment-inks.

Whoever thought when we started letterboxing, we'd ever have a
discussion like this? ;)

Thanks for all of your help! See you on the letterboxing trails one
day...

dvn2r ckr


--- In letterbox-usa@yahoogroups.com, "catbead1" wrote:
> Have you tried "Perfect Ink Refresher"? I found mine
> at A.C.Moore and also have seen it online, maybe your
> local Michael's or other crafts stores have it. It's
> about $5.00 for a 4 oz. spray bottle.
>
> catbead