Sealing wax: step-by-step photo tutorial

[GreenVelvet]

Thanks to wonderful letter-writer and FPN member Dashreeve, I just posted an entry on my blog that is a step-by-step photo tutorial on how to use sealing wax.

 

I've never used sealing wax myself, but I am sooooo tempted and curious.

 

Anyway, for a marvelous look at the process, have a gander here:

 

http://missivemaven.blogspot.com/2009/06/u...step-photo.html

 

Hope you enjoy!

[someonesdad]

I can't see any reason to use this stuff, but some folks have commented that the "usual" sealing wax is pretty brittle and can be cracked by the USPS processing equipment. A better choice may be the plastic glue sticks that some folks use for this, as they are more, well, plastic. Besides, you can glue things when you're not sending letters.

[chud]

I can't see any reason to use this stuff

 

It's fun!

[deauville]

I am surprised that the sealing wax gets to you at all after being processed through the sorting machines and other mechanisation used by modern postal services.

 

 

 

[GreenVelvet]

I am surprised that the sealing wax gets to you at all after being processed through the sorting machines and other mechanisation used by modern postal services.

 

It's definitely surprising, but I get more intact wax seals than mangled ones. And the most mangled ones are usually on foreign mail.

[pmorin]

Thanks for the tutorial - I haven't tried melting the was with a sealing wax spoon.

 

I use Stuart Houghton traditional wicked postable sealing wax, as it is available from my local stationers. J Herbin also sells one that is postable, in traditional stick, as well as 'glue gun' format - I don't like the glue gun format because your colours mix for a looooong time if you are changing them. Atelier Gargoyle sells some of the best sealing wax on the market - also some very very nice seals (some vintage reproductions, as well as some others).

 

Atelier Gargoyle also has some really good information on using sealing wax, as well as waxing philosophically on the why. IIRC, JHerbin links to these articles from their web-site.

 

 

This thread may be of interest as well - the topic was "What do you put in your letters?", and there was a fair amount of discussion on using wax seals.

 

I use wax seals on almost all of my correspondence, including postcards. As far as I am aware, all of the seals I've sent have made it through, which is good, because in some cases it is all that holds the letter closed as it is a traditional letter-fold without an envelope.

[JakobS]

I love using sealing wax, it just makes a letter that much more personal and artistic. I use J Herbin's Cire Souple Wax, or Supple wax, that is their traditional wax that can hold up in the mail. Of the dozen or so letters I have posted from Colorado to Pennsylvania all have survived the postal sorting machines without being mangled. The key is to make them thinner so that they wont stick out from the envelope so much. This still is plenty of wax to make a beautiful seal. the Cire Souple wax is very bendable as a seal and can be bent in half and not crack or fall apart in the least. A. Gargoyle definitely has a large following around here when it comes to sealing wax, and they do provide tons of great information, but I definitely love my Cire Souple wax, and it does a fantastic job in the mail. Though using a melting spoon and alcohol lamp is a very easy and efficient way to make a seal, if you need to save a buck, using a lighter or even matches and letting the melting wax fall onto the envelope is a great way to melt the wax. Once a decent pool of wax has fallen, use the melted side of the wax stick to make a circle, then press the seal into it.

[pmorin]

Of the dozen or so letters I have posted from Colorado to Pennsylvania all have survived the postal sorting machines without being mangled.

 

Hadn't thought about commenting on the where... which is a really good point. For anyone interested in how they hold up via international postage handling I thought I would add... some of the places I've recently sent seals include India, Dubai, England, Ireland, Sweden, Russia, Great Britain, Canada, Mexico, and the US. As afar as I am aware, all have held up very well. I use a lighter and wick based wax - the lighter because I find the wick based sticks melt slowly. It doesn't take a lot of wax, a drop about the size of a dime for small seals.

[Defacto]

I am surprised that the sealing wax gets to you at all after being processed through the sorting machines and other mechanisation used by modern postal services.

 

 

Well I receive letters with a seal on it since somewhere around 2007 by one of my penmate's and there has never been one mangled and they were sent from the USA to Europe.

 

N

[wrath186]

I am surprised that the sealing wax gets to you at all after being processed through the sorting machines and other mechanisation used by modern postal services.

 

A way around this is to seal the letter and not the envelope. I've done this several time and have never had anyone write back that it was damaged.

[WriterofGreatWorks]

<!--quoteo(post=1085299:date=Jun 4 2009, 07:54 PM:name=deauville)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (deauville @ Jun 4 2009, 07:54 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1085299"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->I am surprised that the sealing wax gets to you at all after being processed through the sorting machines and other mechanisation used by modern postal services.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

 

A way around this is to seal the letter and not the envelope. I've done this several time and have never had anyone write back that it was damaged.

What do people think about putting a seal next your name on a letter? Brian (Goulet Pens) does this on one page notes that come with his orders and I seem to like this idea. Thoughts?

[kiavonne]

What do people think about putting a seal next your name on a letter? Brian (Goulet Pens) does this on one page notes that come with his orders and I seem to like this idea. Thoughts?

 

I think it is a little added personal touch, and see nothing wrong with it at all. I've put seals on postcards, and inside greeting cards, though I usually just put a seal on the envelope. Depends on my mood and to whom I write the card or letter.

Edited December 5, 2010 by kiavonne

[jbb]

What do people think about putting a seal next your name on a letter? Brian (Goulet Pens) does this on one page notes that come with his orders and I seem to like this idea. Thoughts?

 

I think it is a little added personal touch, and see nothing wrong with it at all. I've put seals on postcards, and inside greeting cards, though I usually just put a seal on the envelope. Depends on my mood and to whom I write the card or letter.

I've done that. It makes me feel like I'm signing an important official document. Reading this makes me think I want to do it more.