How To Restore A Vintage Rubber Stamp

I have a lovely Vintage  Magenta Cat Stamp, I'm not sure of the exact year of release, but I'm pretty sure it is about 20 years old, It appears to be in perfect condition.

 

But on inspection, I can feel that the rubber has gotten a little dry and "tough" and what that means is that I won't get a good impression from it.  I bet you have run into the same thing with some of your older stamps!  Don't toss the stamp, there is a way to restore them pretty easily!

I have on hand the little sanding blocks you can buy for about $2.00 at the hardware store.  The are very handy in the craft room!  I gave this stamp a vigorous rubbing and then wiped off the dust with a damp wipe

Next a coat of glycerin - a $4.00 drugstore item - you can also re-ink your embossing/resist pad with this! Let it sit over night and then wipe with a damp towel.  Your stamp should have that nice soft rubber texture.  Now the ink will sit on the rubber!

 I inked up the stamp

Treated my paper with the perfect crafting pouch 

I got a beautiful impression the first time!  A little black heat embossing

And here is my card

No toxic chemicals and a beautifully restored stamp!

 Magenta Stamp Catalog number:

23.076

Paper by Paper Temptress

Perfect Craft Pouch

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you give this a try before saying goodbye to an older stamp!

Ginny M