How to Unmount Your Rubber Stamps with EZMount Cling Foam

Hi crafters!  If you have rubber stamps on blocks that you’d like to unmount and use with your stamping tool or an acrylic block, this post will go over how I unmount mine and add them to EZMount cling foam for easy, mess free use!

This is an updated version of my original posts showing how to do this from 2013 and 2014.  The products and links were out of date and so I thought I’d update it for you.  I still do things the same way, but with a couple of different products now. Some of the photos in this post are from my original posts but the products are all updated to current products.

If the product(s) are available online (usually where I purchased it), I will list and link for you.   I do link to products in my store and I use affiliate links when possible (at no cost to you), but none of the products I’m listed were provided or sponsored by anyone. (I stock my store with my favorite products!)  These are simply my personal favorite products that I use when crafting.  Full Disclosure Here.

Here is the rubber stamp I used for the demo

1. The first tool in your arsenal when you begin the job of unmounting wooden stamps should always be a good HotKnife tool!  The HotKnife I use and recommend is the Walnut Hollow Professional HotKnife.

This hot knife cuts through the mounting foam like butter, yet will not cut through the rubber stamp!  It makes unmounting stamps a little bit fun even!  Below is a short video I made back in 2012 showing how to use the Walnut Hollow Professional HotKnife. (Please forgive the quality of the video, it was a made over ten years ago!)

They also sell the replacement blades, (which are difficult to find) so you may want to grab a few of those when you order your HotKnife.

2.  Secondly, you will need mounting foam..  I always use the EZMount foam.  I prefer the 1/8″ thickness.  However, if you prefer, you can buy the very thin kind that is 1/16″ if you prefer but for me does not provide enough “give” when stamping.

3.  Last, you need a good pair of non stick scissors to cut through the rubber stamps and EZMount foam (if you are cutting them down).  I recommend Tonic Kushgrip Snips w/Non Stick Blade & Cap.  The adhesive on the EZMount is strong but it won’t stick to these scissors and they clean easily.  They are also very strong so they cut through the rubber stamps themselves with ease.

Mounting Your Stamps on EZMount Cling Foam!

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:

1. Microwave your rubber stamp face up for about 10-12 seconds.  Then try pulling the rubber stamp away from the cling foam.
2. 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:

Place the rubber stamp back down onto the sticky side of the EZMount 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.  Any brayer will work but here is an inexpensive one you can use.

Next, using your Non Stick Scissors, 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:

Here is a video tutorial I did back in 2014 that shows how I mount my rubber stamps on EZMount to make them Cling Stamps.  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!

If you’d like to know how I store my cling stamps, check out my organization posts!