Thank you for joining me for Cardmaking 101 Lesson 8! I love teaching people about stamping, which is why I’m glad you’re here today! I’ve been sharing some basics about how to get started stamping, and one important topic I have not yet covered is how to clean stamps. Sounds like it’s time to discuss this!
There are several ways to clean stamps, including a few tools that make the job quicker and easier. Let’s get to talking!
How to Clean Stamps
Option 1: Water
The most basic of ways to clean stamps is to run them under running water, and then pat them dry with a towel. This sounds easy, but most of us don’t have running water near our craft space, and you definitely don’t want to run to the sink each time you use a stamp. Also, when using a towel or cloth on your stamps to dry them, you often end up with lint clinging to the stamp, which is really annoying the next time you want to stamp and the lint causes it not to stamp properly. In my opinion, is using water to clean stamps worth the hassle? Nope.
Option 2: Baby Wipes
The next option, often used by beginning stampers, is baby wipes. These can be used to wipe the ink off of your stamps. Be sure to use alcohol-free wipes as to not dry out and damage your stamps.
There are a couple of problems when using baby wipes to clean your stamps. First, it is difficult to get the ink out of the crevices, as can be seen in the photo below. In addition, lint can cling to your stamps, just like when using a towel or cloth.
In my opinion, is using baby wipes to clean stamps worth the hassle? Not really.
Option 3: Stampin Up Simply Shammy
The Simply Shammy is a fairly new product, and hallelujah it has arrived!!! This is such a simple, effective, and low-cost way to clean stamps, that I believe every stamper should have one of these in their collection. Let’s talk about a few basics so that you know what to expect when using a Simply Shammy.
The shammy will arrive in clear plastic packaging, and it will be damp upon opening. It will also be pretty and purple, without ink spots like mine has! The shammy needs to stay damp, and storing it in one of our stamp cases is the perfect way to keep it ready for use at all times. If it ever dries out, just let it soak in water for a minute or two and it will again be ready for use.
To clean a stamp, just blot it onto the shammy a few times, and it will be perfectly clean. Perfectly. I’m not sure how it does it, but it does. I took the stamp I had tried to clean with baby wipes and blotted it on here a few times, and it’s as good as new.
You can also use the Simply Shammy to wipe off other things, like your acrylic blocks, craft table, or Stamparatus for example.
The shammy will collect ink over time, and occasionally you’ll want to rinse it and wring it out. It will be stained, but the ink will not come off on your hands or stamps. Like I said, this thing is awesome!
Is the Simply Shammy worth purchasing and adding to your collection? For the price of just $8, absolutely! It can be used essentially forever without additional supplies or replacing.
Option 4: Stampin Up Stampin Scrub
Let’s talk about the Stampin Scrub! This has been my go-to stamp cleaner for years. I use it slightly less often now that I have the Simply Shammy in my toolbox, but I still love this thing! When I’m doing quite a bit of stamping, I always keep this right beside me to make it quick and easy to clean my stamps.
To use the Stampin Scrub, spray some of our Stampin Mist onto the left (wet) side, and then rub the stamp a few times in different directions across the surface. Look how clean this stamp is in the photo below! Next, rub the stamp a few times on the right (dry) side and it will be ready to put back in the stamp case.
There you have it – several options for how to clean stamps. I hope this was helpful! Please contact me with requests for future Cardmaking 101 topics! Want to start back at Cardmaking 101 Lesson 1? Click here!
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