I HAVE HEARD THIS TERM SOMEWHERE ON PTO WITH REGARDS TO AN INMATE RE-USING POSTAGE STAMPS:confused:

Yes, it's an old jail house trick to remove the postage stamps ink on a used stamp to re-use it. They use a stick deoderant and lay the stamp on the stick to soak for a day or two. Then they wipe it clean and dry it for use again.

Interesting! Thanks for the info

Keep in mind it is also illegal. ;)

Keep in mind it can also be considered recycling. :p

Keep in mind it is a FEDERAL offense, albeit a very clever one.

Enough said on this one I guess, but to say it is done all of the time and sometimes I might say not really illegal when one stamp just didnt happened to get cancelled out. It looks like a fresh, clean, stamp with no markings on it at all. So who is to say that it was a used one??
Just my thoughts on the matter.

neat but i am a chicken or i would save a tree

As Fed-X said, this is illegal... is it worth 37 cents to have your loved one get written up and possibly loose some of his priveledges PLUS spend even MORE time in prison?

This is also one of the reasons why many states are getting away from stamps and making the inmates purchase metered envelopes!

yes i have noticed the metered envelopes ...... we learn something new every day ...... thanks:thumbsup:

As I have distributed mail to inmates, yes, the post office does know what a "washed stamp" is, and they just return the letter unmailed. The stamp looked okay to me, but when I looked closer...it looked washed out, and fainter than a normal stamp.

intresting never heard of it before.... I too have recived metered stamps.

I have never heard of this either. Its very rare that I get an envelope that has an actual stamp on it. Most of my mail comes metered. I'm with the others who said this would be something very risky and STUPID to do, but it is interesting.

its where they re-use stamps and put them on other envelopes, i think you heard that from my thread! lol you have to cover up the lines the postal service mark them with ink or other creative ways. this is part of the reason inmates in tx cannot write on the envelopes anymore b/c so many "washed stamps"were running thru

Interesting....I never knew that!!! I wouldn't do it...it's not worth prison time or in our loved ones cases more time for 37 cents. It's amazing how prisoners find out all this stuff!! It is crazy that they know how to do things like that...but I guess with all that time on your hands...you figure weird things out! Hugs:p
-Jackie

Because new and creative ways to wash stamps have to be created to stay ahead of officials. Texas inmates are now using the clear medical cream. Everything is going clear for inspection purposes. The lid can be used, where a little cream is put on it and the stamps on the cream, and more cream applied. The stamps will soak for a time, rubbed and resoaked. If they soak too long the original ink comes off, especially reds, pinks, and yellows. What can't be removed is the imprint the postal meter makes, but for the most part the washed stamp will make it through unless the inmate has a bad rep. I knew guys who made quite a hustle washing stamps and selling them for a cheaper price. Speaking of metered mail. Most metered mail does not get post marked, and I have seen inmates reuse them or even send them back to their sender for reuse. A friend of mine did it for @ a year, until she got caught and given a verbal warning. She got careless and would take the meters off envelopes where she worked, and so there would be a meter from Chicago on a letter from Houston. Carelessness is usually why folks get caught doing any of this. It is a federal offense! My friend was threatened with mail fraud charges, and USPS has a 1-800 number to report that. Mail rooms snitch all the time.:cool:

Wow, five minutes ago I would never have thought anything about a stamp. Now I have a whole new perspective!

I think we all get the idea of what a "washed stamp" is now. I am going to close this thread. But not without this reminder:

Tampering with mail is a federal offense and this includes "washing" stamps.