Trick for opening and resealing envelopes

Quick, I have about forty five minutes!

Is there really a way to undetectably open a sealed envelope* and then reseal it, like I’ve seen occasionally in movies?

-FrL-

*Just your normal envelope for mailing a letter

Why? :dubious:

Why do you ask? :dubious:

-FrL-

Here’s one way – scroll down.

Another.

Okay, thanks, looks like neither of those will work for me. (One is detectable, the other takes hours.)

I’ll just have to be patient and not peek. :stuck_out_tongue:

-FrL-

Q.E.D: You really want to know? My wife and I have reason to believe that, for Christmas, we are recieving a large sum of money from her father in the form of a check, in order for us to be able to buy an important piece of software for my wife’s hobby/possibly-business. If our belief in this regard is correct, then the check is as we speak sitting on the desk right in front of me–inside a card inside an envelope. I would like to know whether our belief is in fact true. My wife would like to wait until the appropriate time to find this out.

why dont you just open the envlope and reseal it with a new one? just take 15 minutes to carefully copy his handwriting… or why not just open it and not care? im sure he wont care if you open it two days early

What, you can’t wait two days?

If you can get your hands on some, the old VCR head cleaning fluid works pretty well. It soaks into the paper, letting you read through the lighter parts. Then it evaporates with nary a trace. Just don’t drink/inhale the stuff; It’s got some pretty nasty chemicals (formaldehyde, acetone).

How do I know this? Same reason–Christmas presents.

Tripler
I learned this one from an ex-Soviet double agents’ son.

It would be impossible for me (in particular) to carefully copy someone’s handwriting. Is that somethig peope can do in 15 minutes generally?!

Also, it is my wife who would care if I peeked, not him. (He would never know.)

-FrL-

Yes, I can wait two days. I prefer not to wait two days. I like to know things–especially when they are of comparatively great import.

-FrL-

Buy a similar card and envelope to practice on. I have had success using a clothes iron. With a few minutes of practice, you’ll find you can use the steam to quickly open the seal. The idea is to direct the steam to the adhesive seam and to try to divert it from other portions of the envelope/contents.

-Jngl
Mean older brother, retired

If the envelope is addressed to your wife, hands off.

If the envelope is addressed to both of you, respect her wishes.

If the envelope is addressed to you, you wouldn’t have asked this question.

If the only reason you want to know is because you’re nosy, then :dubious: to you, sir.

Unless the software will never be sold again after Christmas Eve and you must purchase it before the store closes, what’s the big rush?

You can sometimes freeze the envelope and then, using a thin blade, break the glue seal on the flap. You have to be gentle, to avoid leaving traces. When you’re finished and the envelope is back to room temp., you simply rewet the glue and reseal the flap.
Three important factors are: how cold is the freezer what kind of glue was used and how fimly the enveloped was sealed.

How’s your poker face? You could try to talk your wife into letting YOU open the envelope, but not reveal the contents. That way, you get to know, and she gets to be surprised. (Of course, this solution will give both people what they want, thus the laws of nature dictate that it will be rejected outright by the other party. Still, it’s worth a shot.)

I thought you were supposed to insert a pair of stiff parallel wires toward one end, rollup the contents, extract them, peruse them, and then roll them back up again for reinsertion. At least that’s what I saw, I think.
Otherwise would it not depend on the glue and type of seal?

If you must do this - steaming really does work (at least for non-gummed envelopes).

Thanks for the replies everyone.

I’m leaving well enough alone.

-FrL-

Wise idea.

Patience is a virtue, probably the only one that many of us has left.
I’d also suggest you not count your chickens before they hatch, it often leads to disappointment.

Patience is a virture,
Secure it if you can.
Seldom posessed by a woman,
And never by a man.