Rubber Stamps Review

Rubber stamps can be put into two separate categories – business and decorating stamps.

Whether it be for business use, marketing purposes or even retail purposes, we’re sure we’ll be able to provide answers to your questions. As this site is dedicated to helping consumers, we’ve provided information for you on securely ordering online, the different types of rubber stamps available as well as places that you may want to look into when ordering rubber stamps.

They are usually put into two categories: one for business/office uses and the other for toy/play uses such as for art or decorating purposes. They are made often with an image or lettering that’s carved or laser engraved onto a rubber sheet.

The rubber sheet is then usually mounted onto a wood or acrylic block for support, with the engraved side facing outwards. Ink is then applied to the engraved rubber which is pressed onto a paper or other surface to transfer the pattern/lettering. Although stamps can be used for artistic purposes or for a child’s toy, many businesses use them because of its easiness to transfer images or lettering to multiple papers quickly. They can be bought with certain images/lettering on them or customized to the customer’s liking. You will be able to find many different ones available along with tons of vendors. Some will offer some more oriented towards business uses and custom stamping and some will offer ones geared more towards arts and crafts.

History

The advent of the stamps made of rubber was actually linked with the procedure of early dentistry. Metal printing stamps, generally made of brass, were used prior to the invention of rubber stamps. Rubber-stamps followed about seven years later. They were first developed as wax seals that were used to guarantee the privacy of certain documents. The wax seals were generally very intricate.

The actual word, “stamp” refers to a marking device. It is not specifically known when the production actually occurred. You have probably heard the name Goodyear associated with rubber. The rubber curing process was discovered by Charles Goodyear of America in his kitchen in 1844. While experimenting, he dropped a mixture of rubber and sulfur onto a hot stove. He noticed that it was still flexible the next day. This process was first known as vulcanization; named after Vulcan, the Roman god of fire.

The advent of the rubber-stamp was actually linked with the procedure of early dentistry. Dentists had round vulcanized rubber set in plaster molds which were used to make denture bases. These were called “dental pots.” These were later used to manufacture the initial rubber stamp.

A dentist, in 1866, assisted his nephew, James Woodruff, in making letter molds by using a vulcanizer and experimented with the dental pot. This lead to the invention of the first quality rubber stamp.

Some of the rubber stamp companies founded in the early years of its invention are actually still in existence today. We generally associate stamps with banks and post offices. One item commonly used is the mechanical date stamp, found in (among other locations) post offices.

Picture stamps were first developed for use in the educational system. Some stamps were used for artistic purposes as early as 1919.

In later years the development of artistic stamps became popular, especially in the craft industry. Today there are a myriad of stamps to be found in craft stores, especially those stores which sell scrapbooking products. The popularity of scrapbooking in recent years has really fueled the rubber stamp industry. And, as you may have noticed, rubber stamps are now available in all sorts of creative shapes and sizes with stamp pads in a wide assortment of colors.