You’ve got some rubber stamps and you want to keep them looking good and printing sharp for years to come. Here’s a simple stamp cleaning and storing guide for you to follow. It’s not rocket science, it’s not even strictly necessary, so if you don’t have the time or can’t be bothered, don’t worry too much. Ink can build up over time though, which can reduce the sharpness of the impression you get and so cleaning the stamps after usage is a good idea. You’ll also want to clean the stamps every time you switch ink pad colour to prevent the colours mixing.
To clean this stamp I’m using a couple dish cloths – one wet, one dry, some kitchen roll and a bottle of stamp cleaner. You could use just the cloths or just the kitchen roll if you wanted and the stamp cleaner isn’t strictly necessary either although it is useful. You could also use wet wipes here if you wanted. I would steer clear of anything with a very high alcohol content, bleach or other particularly hardcore chemicals as they might harm the rubber and they’re just a bit over-qualified for the job.
First of all, you want to press the stamp onto paper or kitchen roll a bunch of times until it is no longer leaving an impression. This should get the majority of the ink off the stamp.
Secondly, with the damp cloth/damp kitchen roll/wet wipe just try to gently clean the ink off the stamp. Take care to try and clean the ink out of the groves and crevasses of the stamp. When using a stamp mounted on wooden handles like ours you want to be carful not to get it too wet in this step as that isn’t great for the wood and could affect the adhesive between the stamp and the wood. You certainly never want to run the stamp under a tap.
If your rubber stamp is getting particularly heavy usage or you are switching between colours a lot, we would recommend picking up a bottle of stamp cleaner. They are quite self-explanatory to use, just gently rub over the stamp surface until you get a bit of foaming.
Next you just want to pat the stamp dry using the dry cloth and get any last bits of ink off that you can. You are never going to get the stamp completely clean. There will always be a bit of ink staining and that’s nothing to worry about really. Just get off what you can.
At this point if your stamps are made from plastic polymer you will want to brush the stamps with talcum powder as they can get quite sticky. Our stamps are made from eco rubber though so don’t tend to stay sticky, so no need to talc our stamps.
Now your stamp should be clean and ready to store. Keep your stamps in a drawer out of direct sunlight and they should be in tip top shape for years and years.
Here’s a video guide for cleaning stamps as well:
