Adhesive remover for closed envelopes?

My sister is getting a wee-bit freaked out over the fact that there's a date mistake on her wedding invitations. She's already sealed like 100 of them and wants to keep the engraved envelopes (which are pretty expensive apparently).





Is there a solvent or other thing out there made to remove envelope adhesives in a manner that keeps them a) intact and b) reusable.








Million thanks in advanceAdhesive remover for closed envelopes?
I did a similar thing by addressing the un-adhesive ';inside envelope'; of the invitation and not having enough outside envelops to re-address them. If you can get the envelope open, I used a glue stick and ran it along the flap to restick it. Worked even better than using the lickable adhesive.





I came across this method just now: I have never tried it -- you may want to practice on an envelope first. Make sure the ink won't melt off, also!!





';Take a kettle, or a small pot and boil water till it starts steaming to its maximum. Take the envelope, and flap/adhesive side down, place it over the steam for a couple of seconds (15-30). Be very gentle, as the paper will be moist and delicate. Check if the adhesive is melting; if it has melted, then you must be quick to pry it open gently with your fingers or a hot knife, steamed in the same way (try not to use a cold knife, as it would cool the adhesive back again). Once pryed open, gently slip the contents out and view/edit/whatever. Wait for the envelope to cool/dry before slipping them back in: If the envelope's paper/or contents become wrinkly after drying, use an iron on LOW to smooth back out again, omitting the adhesive and being careful not to burn anything. Once back in shape and dry, slip the contents in and re-lick (or, if you fear that someone will test the saliva DNA from the envelope) use a small dab of glue to secure once more.';Adhesive remover for closed envelopes?
I can't believe that this question is being asked.





The answer is............STEAM!!!
Water.





The old-fashioned was was to ';steam'; them open, but invariably it leaves the envelop wrinkled - though you might be able to iron them flat with a not-too-hot flat iron.





You can also lightly sponge the paper right over the glue strip, and after a minute or two, the water soaks through and softens the glue. Try the whole process, including ironing the wrinkles out if they don't come out on their own. Also, if you do it on an extra invitation, you can then open it afterwards and verify that it hasn't messed up the invitation - like melted some fancy ink and stuck the pages together, etc.





This is, of course, assuming the envelopes are the old ';lick'; type with water-soluble glue. All bets are off if it's the self-stick pressure-sensitive adhesive.
stick it in the microwave. I forget how long, maybe a few seconds to half a minute I would guess. I've done it and it does work with a minimum of ';wrinkling';.


Poor thing.