Pre-sorting

    (a) If you have intact envelopes, inspect to be sure that you are
        not destroying what would be a good cover.  Usually, this is
        not the case, but very old stamps, very rare stamps, and
        stamps that have a higher value postally used than mint,
        should be preserved on cover.  You may also want to set aside
        envelopes that include interesting postmarks, especially if
        the stamp is fairly common, or a duplicate for you.
        These may be of value to Postal History collectors or postmark
        specialists.  If you are in doubt, set it aside and get a more
        experienced philatelist to tell you if it be preserved.

        Having given you the proper admonishments, any other envelopes
        with stamps (not postal stationary), should be trimmed.  Using
        a sharp scissors, carefully cut around all the stamps on the
        envelope, leaving at least a 5mm margin around all the stamps.
        This will make it easier to remove the paper from really
        persistent stamps.

    (b) Look through what you will be soaking.  You can use this phase
        to separate out obviously damaged stamps (why bother soaking
        them before discarding them), colored paper that might run and
        discolor  other stamps in the bath, items that might be
        particularly valuable and warrant special handling, or some of
        the stamps that have designs that are known to dissolve in
        water (I don't have a list, but one variety of U.S. Wood Duck
        has been known to do this).

Materials

        You can use a sink or a bathtub, but I recommend that you get
        a pair of plastic tubs.  Mine are rectangular, each 30cm x
        40cm x 20 cm deep.  You can get these at any decent department
        store, with lids (great for storing a bag of unsoaked kiloware
        when you aren't soaking).

        A pair of stamp tongs.  Get real stamp tongs, made for stamp
        collectors, with either rounded or spade tips.  You don't want
        any sharp points near wet stamps.  I have seen soft plastic
        tongs that are used for fishing contact lenses out of solution
        work too.  DO NOT use anything with a pointed edge, or a
        serrated surface.  I caused an incredible amount of damage to
        my earlier collection material because I used a pair of tongs
        with a serrated surface (good grip ... and leaves a permanent
        marking on the stamp).  Your best bet (as with almost any
        philatelic tools that you haven't tested personally) is to
        first try them out with a batch of cheapo duplicates.  If you
        do some damage to these, you won't suffer any loss.  [On a
        side note ... I strongly urge people to do this with stamp
        hinges too ... I have had some very bad experiences with some
        extremely well-trusted brands].

        Something to dry the stamps in.  I LOVE the Showgard Desert
        Magic II Drying Books, which are not very expensive and
        reusable.  If you can't get them, the next best thing is some
        flat absorbent paper, such as white blotter paper, or a
        heavy-weight absorbent paper (Vellum Bristol White 64 # or
        heavier, for example).   You will also need some books with a
        flat surface to weight down the paper and keep the stamps flat
        as they dry.  If all else fails, you can use paper towels and
        books, but be sure to pick paper towels with as little surface
        variation (i.e., quilting) as possible, or you will find that
        all your stamps acquire that pattern once they dry.

        Space in a bathroom or kitchen table.

        A supply of tepid (not hot, not cold, warm ... a temperature
        that you could bathe a baby or a cat comfortably ... about 100
        degrees F or 38 degrees C) water.

        A drain and a garbage can.

Procedure

        Fill one tub with tepid water.  It doesn't have to be too
        deep, but it should be deep enough to allow the stamps to fall
        to  the bottom from the surface.  About 5 cm is a good depth.
        More is OK if  you like to get wet.  Fill the other tub with
        cold water.  Each batch of stamps you will dump and replace
        the water after you have removed the stamps.  This will
        elminate gum, dirt, ink, etc buildup in the water that can
        stain your stamps.

        Place a layer of stamps on paper, face down, just under the
        surface of the water.  You should get the backs wet, and then
        let them float at the surface, face down.  Some of them will
        try to turn over and you have to flip them.  You can place
        stamps in the water to completely cover the  surface.  A
        little bit  of overlap is OK, but if you put in  too much, or
        if you throw in all the stamps at once instead of placing them
        in a single layer, you will have a mess!

        Now you wait. The stamps will start separating from the paper
        and falling to the bottom of the tub. After a few minutes, you
        can agitate the water a bit, or, holding the paper backing on
        an edge (not by the stamp), swish it around a bit to see if
        the stamp comes free.  The ones that separate quickly are the
        easy ones.  You can start removing backing paper as  soon as
        the  stamps start to fall off.  Be sure to check and make sure
        that you don't throw away a stamp with the paper.  The stamps
        that  are free from the paper, pick them up with your tongs
        from the soaking tub, and drop them, face up, into the rinsing
        tub (cold water).  They will sink to the bottom, and this
        will rinse most of the extra gum from the back.  They can sit
        for a moment while you get back to the persistent ones in the
        soaking tub, or you can move them to the drying book or paper
        right away.

        For the persistent stamps that stay stuck to the paper, you
        can:
        o Holding the backing paper, swish them around a bit more
        vigorously first to see if the stamp slides off by itself.

        o Let it soak longer.  The longer the stamp soaks, the more
        likely that it will separate from the paper, but you don't
        want to leave stamps  immersed too long or they get
        waterlogged.

        o Try soaking it in slightly warmer water.  For self-adhesive
        stamps, you might actually have to use hot water, but this
        should be an exception, not a rule.

        o If you must, carefully peel the paper off the stamp.  You
        never go the other way ... you should let gravity take the
        stamp off the paper because otherwise you will thin the
        stamp.

        o In the case of hardcore stickies ... the stamp was probably
        glued.  You can try soaking  the stamp in a bit of watermark
        detector fluid but this only works occasionally.  You may
        simply have to live with the backing paper or discard this
        stamp.

        OK.  To dry your stamps.  If you have a stamp drying book, you
        simply place the wet stamps, face-up, onto the pages with
        non-stick backing, and then cover them with the  absorbent
        sheet.  Store  the book flat (maybe with a book  on it to
        keep it flat) and let the stamps dry.  I have found that 48-72
        hours is a good drying time, but room humidity, absorbency,
        time of year, and other factors will determine how long.  When
        you go to remove the stamps from the book, if they still feel
        damp ... they are not ready.  Close the book and wait  another
        day.  Damp stamps will curl immediately as they finish
        drying.  Curling is bad.

        If you don't have stamp drying books, you can lay out a layer
        of absorbent paper on a book, then place the wet stamps,
        face-down, onto the paper.  When you have filled a sheet,  you
        place another piece of paper on  the back, and then a book.
        You can stack up several layers of books this  way.  You need
        to allow more drying time for  layers of paper in real books
        because it takes longer for air to circulate to the stamps and
        dry them.  Again, if they feel damp, it is too soon to do
        anything with them.

        After your stamps are dry (they should be crisp ... not damp),
        you can sort them into glassine envelopes for storage, or
        mount them in your album.  Be sure to keep something on them
        to prevent curling when they are first out of the drying
        book.  Even fully dried stamps sometimes curl when they come
        out of the book.  I don't know why.  If you used absorbent
        paper instead of a drying book, you will probably have some
        sticking to  the paper.  Gently remove the paper from the
        stamp (not the stamp from the paper) if you can.  If there was
        enough gum left on the stamp to really stick it good, you will
        need to resoak it, possibly in a warmer bath to dissolve the
        ink.

Ergonomics

        Soaking can be very hard on the back.  Be aware of your back
        when you are filling your tubs, while you are hovering over
        the stamps, etc.  Keep your back straight and supported.  If
        your back starts to hurt, stop, take a break, or lie down on
        the floor.  I have left stamps soaking overnight, and even
        once I left a batch for four days in the water.  It isn't
        recommended, and some stamps do fade in water after even a few
        minutes.  However, if you screw up your back, you will not be
        collecting or doing anything else fun for the better part of a
        week ... so be aware of what feels uncomfortable and don't do
        it.