Removing black backed Scott type mounts

[toyempire]

Good morning all.

I have started to acquire used Minkus country albums / pages off the ebay with the intent of slowly making them the main "Homes" for the appropriate parts of my collection. I simply like the page layout Minkus adopted more than Scott's style and also enjoy the hunt for the out of print albums. I already have on hand Minkus country albums or pages for Japan (to 1995) Bolivia and Paraguay (to 1969-70) and Costa Rica (to 1992). I have Lebanon to 1984, France to 1969 and Mexico to 1981 currently on the way to me (been spending way to much money on ebay).

Now we get to the purpose of this thread, many of the pages in these new albums have the black backed Scott style mounts on them. I don't like this style of mount (I prefer the clear Hawid mounts). Does anyone have any tricks or methods for removing these Scott mounts without causing massive damage to the underlying page? I am considering trying to heat the page with a hair dryer or heat gun to see if it will loosen the glue but thought I would see if anyone already has a method or has experimented with the removal of these mounts themselves.

[JerryB]

Hi Bear

Don't use heat as you may melt the plastic and/or curl the mount.  The best ways I know:

1.     See if the mount just "pops" off the page with a very gentle tug upwards.  Depending on the moisture used to attach the mount the
        gentle tug  may remove the mount

2.    Gently rub the reverse of the page under the mount.  Sometimes that little bit of heat will do the trick.

3.    With spade tip tongs, lift the mount and "cut" the mount at the top weld.  Unfortunately this will leave a "piece" of the mount attached
       to the page.  If the remnant lifts, cut away as much as possible with the spade tip tongs.

If these methods don't work, and there is a remnant of the black mount left, then you have done all that I know possible without damaging the page.  Hope the next mount on top of the remnant hides said remnant.  Do no try to pull a mount off a page as you will tear the page.

Problem is that people "slobber" the mount to make it stick when only a little bit of moisture at the top of the mount is required.  Personally, I use a Q-Tip (cotton bud) that is moist but not dripping.  I put moisture only at the top, just below the weld.  My mounts usually pop off the page.

I have been using mounts for more than 30 years and the above is what I have learned.  Fortunately, I use only quadrille blank pages, and, in this case,I  just use another page.

Jerry B

[terri]

The Deep Freeze method helps for these, too. And Jerry is 100% right about heat! Careful with moisture or you’ll activate the rest of the goo on the backs. 

Good luck! 

[sforgca]

I have never used mounts so this is just from other collector ideas...
- All the ones JerryB, noted
- Using dental floss under the mount to cut it loose
- Using a metal Scotty Peeler - used to remove labels
General consensus appears to be cut off what you can and paste over the remainder

[JerryB]

Hi sforgca

I like the idea of using dental floss to cut the mount remainder. From what I see a Scotty peeler may be too thick.

Jerry B