Sealing Wax?

[sharonspens]

I used flexible wax to seal all of my holiday cards (nearly 80 of them). Most of them I placed in my home mailbox for pickup, and used one regular USPS stamp per envelope. Last week I needed to ship some boxes, and some international cards, so I took them to the main post office (I should note that these envelopes also contained a single packet of holiday tea, so they were slightly thicker than the earlier ones). The clerk took a look and stated that the seal necessitated special mailing, and charged me extra for special handling. First time I've had that happen. I don't know whether the others have made it through the mail intact or not. My brother is a mail clerk; I'll have to ask his opinion on the matter.

 

Sharon in Indiana

[Sasha Royale]

I used flexible wax to seal all of my holiday cards (nearly 80 of them). Most of them I placed in my home mailbox for pickup, and used one regular USPS stamp per envelope. Last week I needed to ship some boxes, and some international cards, so I took them to the main post office (I should note that these envelopes also contained a single packet of holiday tea, so they were slightly thicker than the earlier ones). The clerk took a look and stated that the seal necessitated special mailing, and charged me extra for special handling. First time I've had that happen. I don't know whether the others have made it through the mail intact or not. My brother is a mail clerk; I'll have to ask his opinion on the matter.

 

Sharon in Indiana

 

The assessment of a "non-machineable" surcharge applies to letter mail that is not compatible with mechanical processing. Your brother will find the applicable information under "non-machinable criteria", in the Domestic Mail Manual. The surcharge offsets the additional cost of manual processing of some mail. Without examining the actual

mail piece, I cannot classify your item as "Machinable" or "non-machinable". Such surcharge should be paid by the sender, but may be collected from the addressee. Enforcement is inconsistent. The United States Postal Service suffered a 2014 deficit exceeding seven billion dollars.

[ScottT]

I can certainly vouch that the enforcement varies...the town next to mine has a far newer post office and one clerk had an issue with wax seals, citing the surcharge as absolutely necessary. The other clerks there did not, nor did my post office.

 

This year all my letters made it through, and I even received one mailed by a penpal who forgot the stamp!

[sharonspens]

Yes, indeed, "rules" are not "rules" unless everyone plays by them equally, right? hahahahaha

[Peppers]

Sealing wax breaks during mail handling or it becomes too soft inside a postal delivery car which makes a mess.

 

And if you go with expensive seal wax, the person can't even break it, because those don't budge.

 

I've seen a solution going around for some time now.

 

Faux Seal Wax Stickers. They are rubbery stickers that look exactly like a seal wax, but its a sticker. I've seen them at Etsy shops.

 

Click here.

 

I've never used them and I am not recommending any product. I just felt like throwing the idea if anyone is interested.

[graystranger]

Thanks for the info. I see they even have "glow in the dark" faux seals! I'm not interested, but enjoy seeing what is out there. A stunning selection of seals and an amazing selection of colors.

[VivienR]

My experience with J Herbin sealing wax that they are can be really fragile too. In summer we had plenty of days over 40 Celsius, those days it was bit soft, but as temperature dropped, they become really fragile. I broke one stick to million pieces, ordered a new one accidentally get out from my hand and immediately broke two from a 15 cm drop. Surely they seems good, I just still need to find the best tool to melt them properly.

[haruka337]

I feel that wax sealed envelopes should be hand delivered, placed with a gift/package, used to seal special documents or placed in a larger envelope to protect the seal during mailing. Seems a bit excessive and I don't expect anyone to do it, but I've yet to see a wax seal survive the ravages of the sorting machines.

[ScottT]

I think it comes down to pure luck. Depending on where the letter goes, what machines it goes through, etc. I have had a letter sent to me with very brittle wax on the outside and it arrived intact, and I have had letters sent with faux wax which have had half the seal sheared off by a machine.

 

Sure, to be safe you can do the 'sealed envelope in a regular envelope', which I would do if it were imperative the seal arrive in perfect condition, but given the number of letters sent versus the very small number of seals damaged, at least for my circumstances, I would just put it on the outside and carry on...

 

Speaking of wax, and not trying to hijack the thread, when using wicked wax is there any way to keep the wick from smoking so much when you blow it out? I am going to try a quick dunk in water, hopefully the wick will remain usable for next time, because the amount of smoke it put out....wow. Normally I use the faux waxes, so this is new territory for me.

[dvalliere]

when using wicked wax is there any way to keep the wick from smoking so much when you blow it out? I am going to try a quick dunk in water

I dip my smoking wick in the melted pool of wax. Smoke ends instantly and it lights right up the next time.

[cakibler]

I got a 10 count assortment of sealing wax sticks as a Christmas gift. I use a Parker logo signet ring I purchased a few years ago from Ariel Kullock. I just ordered myself a "C" initial wax seal stamp from Amazon. I am still getting used to using a wax seal on my letters. My daughter uses her lighter or a tea light candle and a wax melting spoon which seems to work real well after a bit of practice.

.http://i135.photobucket.com/albums/q127/cakibler/parker%20signet%20ring_zpshktxgotd.jpg

Edited January 1, 2016 by cakibler

[ScottT]

I dip my smoking wick in the melted pool of wax. Smoke ends instantly and it lights right up the next time.

 

Thanks, I shall give that a try!

[domnortheast]

I feel that wax sealed envelopes should be hand delivered, placed with a gift/package, used to seal special documents or placed in a larger envelope to protect the seal during mailing. Seems a bit excessive and I don't expect anyone to do it, but I've yet to see a wax seal survive the ravages of the sorting machines.

I agree re the hand delivery but it is so difficult to get a letter from one end of the country to the other every couple of weeks that way

 

Not had any problems with the wax seals surviving sorting machines, sometimes you can see where it has gone through the rollers, squashing the seal a little but they have all arrived intact, I am always asking the recipients what state the letter has arrived in. I use Waterstons wax which is slightly flexible but still uses traditional ingredients. I think the amount of shellac that is included dictates its level of flexibility and resilience.

 

I have found the faux wax to be horrible stuff behaving and smelling much like melted plastic (which is what I suspect it is).

Edited January 1, 2016 by Stanley Howler

[Fabienne]

Yes, that "flexible" stuff is more like rubber and very non-traditional/disgusting. I would rather have a cracked seal than one of those rubbery travesties. And they come in some ghastly colors, too. Baby blue? Ewww.

[domnortheast]

Yes, that "flexible" stuff is more like rubber and very non-traditional/disgusting. I would rather have a cracked seal than one of those rubbery travesties. And they come in some ghastly colors, too. Baby blue? Ewww.

Shudder!

 

I reckon if you want to make a friend feel special then it's hard to beat a letter made with some sheets of G.Lalo Verge de France, written using nice homemade iron gall ink applied with a good dip pen then folded and secured with proper red sealing wax and a personalised seal. I kind of think the effort that goes into the presentation of the material object each time is as indicative of the care and affection that is intended as the words themselves.

 

Also, with regards the durability of the wax, if the writing paper itself is folded to become the envelope and a little wax placed underneath the securing flap as well as on top of it then the resulting wax/paper sandwich is much stronger than just putting wax on the outside alone.

[LeonW]

Great post Stanley, I do believe that the care you apply to the little things doesn't always go by unnoticed.

[Quartermain]

Good evening,

 

Do any UK based wax users know where I can get hold of some J Herbin wax from a UK retailer?

 

Many thanks