To Stamp: 

Set your soap on a flat surface, align your stamp, and tap in with a hammer or mallet until at the desired depth is reached and lift straight out. Ensure to tap all corners and sides of the stamp in. If the stamp is large or has a lot of surface area (there is lot of soap to displace), the hammer may not be effective enough, so the stamp may need to be pushed in by hand, using your body weight and pressing in all sides and corners. For best results ensure the stamping surface on your soap is cut flat and level.

Care:  To increase the life of your stamp please store away from UV light. Dry completely before storage to avoid damage to the wood handle. Stamp faces clean well with a wet toothbrush or bristly paint brush. Do not expose to temperatures over 50C or 120F or the face many become soft and/or distort. Do not use on hot soap or hot candle wax. These stamps are intended for use only on handmade soap. 

Tips:

- To reduce soap sticking to the stamp, you can lubricate the stamp with water, oil, or starch. Starch (corn or tapioca) can be dusted over a sticky soap surface to reduce tackiness.

- Avoid stamping around soap edges and pressing too hard and fast or the bar may distort, especially with large stamps and thin/small bars. If your soap is too soft (just cut) or too hard, stamping may also cause distortion.

- Most stamp their soaps several days after cutting, when the exterior is dry and smooth to produce a clean image, but the interior is still soft and will compress to accept the stamp without distortion.

- To add a bit of back ground colour, you can dip the surface of the stamp in some natural colorants, like cocoa, turmeric, cinnamon, est..., as well as micas and then stamp your soap.

- Test stamps at different stages of soap drying to determine the best time to stamp for your soaps. As different people use different ingredients, water quantities, different stamp types, and pressing methods, some may find pressing most easy just after cutting while others may wait several days or weeks. Most stamp their soaps several days after cutting, when the exterior is dry and smooth to produce a clean image, but the interior is still soft and will compress to accept the stamp without splitting the soap.

Types of Stamps and Stamping Method:

Stamps with a large surface area: These stamp usually stamp better into soft to medium softness soap, lightly dusted with corn starch to reduce sticking. Stamps with large surface generally compress soap as opposed to displacing it, so soft soap is preferable as it compresses more easily. Large surface area stamps are usually stamps that are "shapes" and blocky, without great detail or thin lines. These stamps also imprint better if pushed in in a circular motion to ensure all sides are imprinted and to ease the stamp in to reduce distortion. 

Stamps with fine detail and small surface area: These stamps usually stamp better on hard soap (but not rock solid), moistened with water or oil to prevent sticking and help flatten displaced soap. Stamps with very detailed lines, thin lines, and many nooks generally slice through the soap and are more prone to soap sticking in little details than blocky stamps. These stamps are generally text and word stamps. They also displace soap, so it is advisable to press the stamp straight down and lift straight up to reduce lumps and soap caught in the details. It is also advisable to take great care with these detailed stamps or stamps with thin lines, as they are more prone to break if dropped or treated harshly.