stamped images look splotchy

[chinagrrl]

most of the stamps i've bought are outline because i like to watercolor... recently, i've bought a lot of "solid" stamp sets. last night i decided to play with "stitched exotics" and was really disappointed with how the stamped images came out. the ink sort of "beads" on the surface of the rubber and the images come out splotchy. how do i get an even, clean image? i tried cleaning the stamp with a solvent cleaner, as well as sanding, but neither seem to have worked. TIA

[babydal57]

I have heard that there can be residue from the manufacturing process left on the stamp.

Some people use a white eraser and rub it over the stamp. Some people just clean the stamp with a stampin scrub and cleaner to remove it.

I personally rough it up a bit with the fine side of an emery board in a cross-hatch pattern. It seems to get rid of the oils used to release the stamp from the mold and give the ink something to cling to.

Good luck. I'm sure that the more experienced stampers will have more ideas for you.

[mungojerry]

Yes, you should clean them before use. Most people recommend a pink eraser, I'm sure white is just as good. ;) Some people use the sanding blocks that SU sells. Some of it has to do with the paper you are using as well. Some paper just takes ink better than others. Most of the bold stamps I've had are fine after a few stampngs.

[GreenDragonLady]

You can also trying inking the stamp with a brayer to make sure it's fully inked.

[dtstampz]

SU's Whisper White and Very Vanilla seem to take the ink much more evenly with solid images.

[threefurbabiesmom]

One of the hints my SU! Demo gave me was to ink the stamp up a few times with versamark, then move to the colored inks. Honestly I haven't tried it because I figured out what my problem was (it was a user error). The other thing I have found is that I am just not happy with any paper other than SU! I have a lot of cardstock I bought from Michael's and/or Joann's but those don't take the ink nearly as well. I'll either use those up doing some scrapbooking or donate them to the local day care so the kids can color.