# Questions about sealing letters with wax **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 15, 2010, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-sealing-letters-with-wax/560784 "2010-11-15T21:31:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2010, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-sealing-letters-with-wax/560784/21 "2010-11-18T16:47:38Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > There’s your answer. Hand-canceled letters **in the USA** require extra postage. How can people determine in advance whether their letter will require hand cancelling? [I can’t find any reference on the USPS site which says you need to pay extra far wax-sealed letters.](http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&safe=off&q=site%3Ape.usps.com+wax&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=). ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2010, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-sealing-letters-with-wax/560784/22 "2010-11-18T16:48:45Z")
> [@Aeris](#): > > Am I missing something? I didn’t have to use extra postage when I sent my wax sealed letter in the mail a few months ago. It got there on $0.44. They don’t _have_ to be hand-canceled, but you run the risk of the wax getting damaged by the machines. ---
**Author:** ![a35362](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@a35362](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/a35362)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2010, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-sealing-letters-with-wax/560784/23 "2010-11-18T20:08:54Z")
Does the wax make the envelope heavier than one ounce (or whatever the limit is)? Yeah, you’d probably prefer they hand-cancel rather than having your nice wax seal get destroyed in their machines. ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2010, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-sealing-letters-with-wax/560784/24 "2010-11-18T20:36:46Z")
It’s not the weight so much as the puck of wax potentially getting caught and jamming the machinery. Most people that I know of sending wax sealed missives put the wax sealed envelope into a standard envelope and put the usual address & postage on the outter one. The inner envelope will arrive in good condition with a suitably decorative address and maybe some sort of artistically drawn cancellation. ---
**Author:** ![a35362](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@a35362](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/a35362)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2010, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-sealing-letters-with-wax/560784/25 "2010-11-18T20:48:32Z")
I meant the postage would be higher because the weight would be (slightly) greater. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2010, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-sealing-letters-with-wax/560784/26 "2010-11-18T20:53:42Z")
While we’re talking about seals: [Aladine](http://www.letterseals.com/aladine-initial-wax-seal.html) makes beautiful letter seals (ideal for your Hogwarts invitation). If you first stamp the seal in some gold ink, you get a spectacular gold / wax seal - which is what I do for my fancy letters. ---
**Author:** ![dzero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f9b8f/32.png) [@dzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dzero)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2010, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-sealing-letters-with-wax/560784/27 "2010-11-18T20:56:36Z")
> [@Projammer](#): > > It’s not the weight so much as the puck of wax potentially getting caught and jamming the machinery. > > Most people that I know of sending wax sealed missives put the wax sealed envelope into a standard envelope and put the usual address & postage on the outter one. The inner envelope will arrive in good condition with a suitably decorative address and maybe some sort of artistically drawn cancellation. The one time I tried this, the seal still ended up in chunks at the bottom of the outer envelope. But I use the very brittle, glossy wax. Maybe I would have better luck with type that has a wick and seems to be a bit softer. Or I guess it could have just been bad luck. ---
**Author:** ![dzero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f9b8f/32.png) [@dzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dzero)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2010, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-sealing-letters-with-wax/560784/28 "2010-11-18T21:01:04Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > While we’re talking about seals: [Aladine](http://www.letterseals.com/aladine-initial-wax-seal.html) makes beautiful letter seals (ideal for your Hogwarts invitation). > > If you first stamp the seal in some gold ink, you get a spectacular gold / wax seal - which is what I do for my fancy letters. Would you mind if I added that site to [my unusual online vendors thread?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=13157739#post13157739) It would be better if you were to post it there since it’s your discovery and therefore you could give a better description of what they have, but I don’t mind doing it. 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-sealing-letters-with-wax/560784.md?page=1)