Showgard Desert Magic II Stamp Drying Book by Honest Steal

I’ve collected stamps off and on since the mid to late 1980’s. Recently, while going through some long stored items that belonged to my Grandparents (both died in the early 1990’s) I came across a large box of stamps still on paper spanning from the 1900’s through the early 1930’s. My Grandmother must have known somebody at a business that would clip and save stamps just for her.Since I got this book I’ve been soaking stamps like a mad man. The end results are spectacular - the stamps dry perfectly flat and look great. Highly recommended!

Because I had well over tens of thousands of stamps to remove from envelope covers and my wife upset with all the kitchen space I was taking for hours at end, I purchased this stamp drying book. The book can actually hold upwards of 250 stamps at a time depending upon whether you are drying small definitive issues or larger commemoratives or pictorials. Useful product, but YES… I’m still soaking!

I have collected stamps off and on since the '70s and just inherited 12 boxes of my parents and grandparents accumulations of stamps, covers, albums, etc. When I realized the sheer volume of soaking I was going to have to do, I knew that laying the soaked stamps on paper or linen towels to press-dry would be very space and time consuming. I knew my wife would be patient with stamps drying all over the table for a couple days, but I knew weeks of drying would be required and that would not bode well for a happy wife.After going on line and finding the Showgard Desert Magic II and reading the rave reviews about it, I decided to give it a try. I purchased 2 of the drying books and immediately started using them. Wow! I wish I had known about this product years ago! The plastic coated pages "grab" the wet stamps and keep them from curling, even if I'm side-tracked doing other things for 15 minutes before I finish filling a page. The blotter pages are extremely effective drawing moisture away from the stamps and allow the stamps to completely dry in just several hours instead of 12-24 hours using my old method of drying. Even stamps that have some residual gum come off the plastic coated pages. I have filled the books a number of times and it's just as efficient as it was the first time. Even though the pages have warped over time, the stamps still dry nice and flat. What's really nice, is each book holds enough stamps to fill an entire leaf on the table. So with two books filled, I only use an 8-1/2" X 11" space with the books stacked and drying rather than the stamps spread out over two leaves of the table.

It is excellent for drying individual stamps. I usually dry them or blot them on a paper towel before I place them in the book. I start at the back and move forward. I have used the book over several times. This drying book is one of the best investments. Anyone that collects stamps or is like myself new at it this is a must!

finally i can soak stamps off envelopes or old stamp albums and get the stamps dry and flat!

No problems ever !

Just what I needed.

Book works a treat. Took a bit of a learning curve to realize that you do NOT want to press it flat - it will take longer to dry. Just leave it somewhere and it will work it's magic.The comb binding spine, however, is absolute crap. Have already had half the pages fall out. Will be taking it to Staples to be re-bound with a spiral binding so all the pages stay in place. So, mentally add another $10 to the price when purchasing, because I've used it 4 times and the spine is already weak and falling apart.