This is a relatively quick method for removing self-adhesive or "peel and stick" varieties from their paper backing. (This method may not apply to every self-adhesive stamp from every country; I have used it successfully with British, Canadian and Australian issues. I have had experience with certain Italian, French and Spanish issues that has left me with mangled scraps, making me very glad I do not collect all those countries!). As with gummed stamps, you should not do above one hundred or so stamps at a time. I do each lot in a washbasin or sink as follows:

1) I use fairly hot water, but not boiling. Self-adhesive stamps need some definite warmth and contrary to what one might think, they can stand a fairly high temperature;

2) I put the stamps in enough water to be able to swirl them around a bit, so they don't remain lumped together - this ensures they soak individually and shortens the time you need to wait. Also, you need enough water so that the temperature can be adjusted up or down, as needed (you need to be able to put your hand in, but it might be uncomfortably hot to begin with);

3) I wait at least 15 or 20 minutes before trying to remove the stamps. Even then, some will need longer but you can start on those which “come free” with a bit of help. (I believe it may be true that self-adhesive stamps left to soak for hours may become very fragile, but I have never experienced this);

4) Some self-adhesives will slide off under a bit of pressure from thumb and forefinger, but in my experience, not many. I generally take each stamp, one at a time and use both thumbs and therefore both hands to try and free the stamp by pushing it away from me. Some will come off easily in this manner. A few will resist and some will resist so much that you tear them. However, I don’t tear many these days and with a little practise, you won’t either. If a stamp does not want to come unstuck in this way I throw it back and try another (and when stamps do come off in this manner, it leaves all the gum behind, which is very useful);

5) Just as with gummed stamps, I gather them up and leave them “stuck,” as it were, to the side of the sink, one on top of another, above the waterline. For any stamps that will not come off using the “pressure method,” I try and pry them apart, making sure that I get every last scrap of gum. Usually it all comes off in one lump, but at times it will stick here and there and if any is left adhering to the stamp, it is a real nuisance later, as it sticks to everything it comes in contact with, including album pages and other stamps;

6) Once they are all off paper, I then carefully take one or more batches of stamps from the side of the sink and peel them off one by one (they will usually slide apart without much trouble) and lay them carefully in rows, upside down, on newspaper to dry, just as with gummed stamps. I find that self-adhesive stamps that have come off the paper gum-free will not stick to the newspaper, so I just leave them to dry.

This method is about the quickest I have found. However, you do have to allow these stamps more time in the water, and it is generally more difficult to remove them cleanly from paper than is the case with gummed stamps.