CLEAR POLYMER STAMPS
USING CONDITIONING AND STORING

Clear stamps are great tools, but they are not quite like rubber stamps. Here are some differences and tips for getting the best image and longest life out of your clear stamps.

Conditioning
*It is important that you condition clear stamps before your first use. Some people suggest using a fine grit sand paper but I find that using a standard pink eraser to scuff the surface is the best way to help your clear stamp hold ink. In their new state, clear stamps to want to repel ink and you can actually see it pooling into little drops on the surface when you ink them. I've shown an example to the left to show the difference between an image stamped with a rubber stamp, an image stamped with a new polymer stamp and an image stamped with a polymer stamp that had been conditioned with a pink eraser.

Clear stamps are not designed to last as long as rubber stamps. Rubber stamps can last a life time if taken care of. Polymer stamps tend to either get gooey or harden as time goes on. This problem is exacerbated by sunlight, indoor lighting, oil based products, acetone and bleach.

Storage
Store your clear stamps in a light-free container, such as a cardboard shoe box. Even indoor light will discolor and eventually harden your clear stamps. These stamps are made of a light sensitive material because they are developed using a light process.

Using and Cleaning
Solvent based inks, such as StazOn, aren't the best choice to use with polymer stamps. The ink is very hard to clean off without their special cleaner. The StazOn cleaner can damage your polymer stamp. Baby wipes are a great method of cleaning polymer stamps. You can also use mild soap and water or alcohol. There are also cleaners, like Ranger's Clear Stamp Cleaner, made specifically to be gentle enough for use with polymer stamps.

Because polymer stamps are created using a developing process rather than created by pressing them into a mold, they can't be created with as much detail as rubber stamps. You won't notice much difference with bolder or simple stamps but there can be a considerable difference with highly detailed stamps. If you click on the image to the right to view the image in more detail you'll see a very slight difference in detail on the zigzag stitch stamp. The X stitch stamp is virtually the same.

We've had to modify some of our images when submitting the artwork to make clear stamps. You can easily see the difference in this high-detail floral stamp. The small detail dots in the rubber image couldn't be picked up by the photopolymer process so we had to enlarge all the lines on this stamp, make the stamp bolder and darker than the original.

All of the samples on this page were stamped using dye based Adirondack ink. The difference between a conditioned and unconditioned stamp would not be so obvious with a pigment ink such as VersaColor inks.

*Note: Some rubber stamps also need conditioning when new. Fine grit sand paper seems to work a little better than the pink eraser method for rubber. The stamps most likely to need to conditioning when new, are shiny and have a release agent left on them that needs to be sanded off.

PROS

• No cutting needed - stamps come ready to use
• No cushion needed - a cushion under your stamping surface may be helpful when using larger stamps
• Completely clear for ease of placement - fantastic for lining up multiple images
• Less expensive than mounted rubber stamps - a set of small clear stamps can easily cost as little as 1/2 to 1/5 of what all the same stamps would have cost if each were wood mounted
• Less storage space - one shoe box can store hundreds of rubber stamps

CONS

• Clear stamps cannot be produced with the same level of detail as rubber - you may notice that some of our original designs have needed modifying to include bolder lines and less detail.
• More costly than unmounted rubber sheets - it costs about the same to produce a 4" x 5" collection of polymer as it does to create a 5" x 8" sheet of rubber.
• Consistency changes - stamps will generally discolor and can either become gooey or harden over time, especially with light or strong cleansers
• Tearing - users must take care when removing stamps from storage sheets and acrylics blocks. It is possible and sometimes easy to tear a clear stamp.
• Odor - clear stamps can have a strong smell when new. They are non-toxic but if someone is sensitive to smells they may not enjoy using these.