This post has been updated – click here to see the new post
*Updated to add Product List on 12/29/15
Hi everyone, this post is an update and clarification to my May 13, 2013 post which quickly explains how to unmount your rubber stamps. This post goes into more detail and has photos and a video which should help walk you through the steps.
If you’ve got rubber stamps on blocks that are taking up too much room and are difficult to store you’ve come to the right place! I’m going to tell you everything you need to know to unmount your rubber stamps from the wooden blocks and turn them into what we call “unmounted rubber stamps”. First you will need some supplies:
1. The first tool in your arsenal when you begin the job of unmounting wooden stamps should always be a good HotKnife tool!
They also sell the replacement blades
2. Secondly, you will need mounting foam.. I always use the EZMount foam. I prefer the 1/8″ thickness but you can buy the very thin kind that is 1/16″ if you prefer.
3. Last, you need a good pair of scissors to cut through the rubber stamps (if you are cutting them down). I recommend either Tim Holtz Tonic Scissors or EZMount Craft Scissors. They both work equally well 
Crafter’s Companion also sells a starter kit that has the storage panels, mounting foam and EZMount Scissors. I didn’t purchase this starter kit but I use all of the products contained in it. It may be more cost effective to purchase the starter kit than to purchase everything individually. It’s up to you
Now, let’s get started unmounting those stamps! Get your supplies ready (Turn on your hotknife so its hot when you get ready to use it).
The first thing you will want to do is separate the rubber stamp from the cling foam on the back of the stamp. Do this slowly and you should be able to pull it off in one whole piece with no issue. However, there are some stamps that are more difficult to remove than others so if you can’t do it with your fingers, VERY CAREFULLY, use something sharp to separate the rubber from the foam and then pull it off.
TIPS: If your rubber stamp won’t come apart from the foam, try the following:
- Microwave your rubber stamp face up for about 10-12 seconds. Then try pulling the rubber stamp away from the cling foam.
- Very carefully, using your hotknife, cut the foam off of the rubber stamp. (Be careful not to cut or burn yourself)
Once your rubber stamp is removed from the wooden block, it will look something like this:
Take your EZMount Cling Foam and place the rubber stamp back down onto the sticky side of the foam. There are two sides, one is the cling side and one is sticky. (You can’t mistake the two because it’s VERY sticky). Press or roll over the stamp with you fingers or a brayer to make sure it is securely stuck to the foam with no air bubbles.
Next, using your Tim Holtz or EZMount Scissors (they are made to cut through the sticky foam), cut around the stamp, this doesn’t have to be neat or precise because you will do that next with the HotKnife.
Remove the paper from the cling side of the stamp like this:
Lastly, using your hotknife go around the edge of the stamp just as if you were “fussy cutting” it out. It should cut very smoothly and easily, leaving you with a newly unmounted rubber stamp that looks like this:
That’s it! You’ve unmounted your first rubber stamp and it should look something like this:
Below is a short video I made to show you how to do this in real time. If you have any questions about this process or any of the products I recommended, please feel free to contact me or leave a comment and I’ll get back to you asap. Happy Stamping!
The supplies mentioned or used in this video are listed and linked for your convenience below.
How do you store them????
This is how I store my stamps: http://kathleendriggers.com/kats-scrap-room-organization-storage-solutions-2014/4-stamp-storage/
What do you do with all the wood? I just unmounted A LOT of stamps using your method but now I have a ton of wood. Did you toss it, burn it, reuse it?
I threw mine away but if I had a fireplace, I probably would have burned it.
Thank you for the great vid! Can the fuse tool be used?
You need that razor edge and it will get gunky and black and gross after use so i woudln’t.
This might be a dumb question, but why do you peel it off of the foam that’s it already on? Rather, why don’t you peel the gray foam off of the block too, and just keep that? I hope that makes sense…
Not a dumb question at all but it’s not “clingy” so it wont’ stick to the block, plus it has glue on it so it’s all gross. The ezmount foam is made to “cling” on one side and “stick” on the other
Have you ever or no of someone where the foam comes off with the rubber and just mount the whole thing to the ez mount foam. Is it too much foam?
that would be too much foam.
Thank You, for l have one too many wooden stamps and not all the room. Plus l have Tim Holtzs platform machine, want to use more. Looking forward to doing this. Love knowing l can do.
Thank You again, have a great day. Carolann