Cleaning a T206
 

I have never soaked a card before, and I have no intention to submerge a card in water. It just seems really dangerous to attempt and I don't know what I am doing.

Can someone one give me a way to clean the borders of a t206 without soaking, perhaps with a Q-Tip. I am hoping to give the card a little bit brighter glow.

I am positive there is a thread here some where and I looked but wasn't able to locate what I was looking for. Perhaps someone here knows exactly where to look for what I am interested in?

As a newbie, I would stay away from cleaning with a Q-Tip. Things can go from nowhere to paper loss very quickly. Believe it or not, a quick soak and a dry wrapped in a paper towel between some heavy books or secured in a screw-down is the safest way to proceed. Keep your soak short, a few minutes, to prevent your heart from stopping. Resist the temptation to scrub any stubborn stain (a second soak would be safer). Blot the card a bit, then fold a paper towel around it and secure it flat. Be sure to scan it before and after so that you can be sure of the difference.

There are more advanced steps but let's leave those for another day.

Leave Q-Tips out off the equation for your first cleaning.....Good Luck........

My concern he is the card I am interested in cleaning is in mid grade condition. With a brighter boarder the card will look significantly better.

The rest of the card is immaculate. I am concern what the water would do to corners and borders where some very minor chipping already exists on the surface edge. Soaking the whole card seems drastic for what I am trying to accomplish.

Mike is right. Soaking is a lot safer that a q-tip in most cases. You could always hold off on soaking the card in question until you have practiced on some lower grade cards. I had soaked around a dozen commons before I got up the nerve to soak a HOFer.

Soaking is the way to go, but make sure to keep it brief & not get unreal about expectations....Some cards soak better than others. I only take the risk to remove excess paper adhered to the card myself....but to each his own...My first soak was a T206 McCauley Hindu (paper glued to the back). I think it came back graded a 2.

Before you soak it, post a scan. We will gladly give an opinion as to the likelihood of the process making a difference.

As it has already been said, do not have unreal expectations. It could come out of the drink looking fantastic. It could come out looking the same as when it went in. Lastly, after drying, it may look better than when you first remove it from the soak.

If the card is tight save a bit of minor chipping you SHOULD be OK. We would need to see a scan to be sure.

Keep us informed.......

I decided that I am not going to chance it and leave the card as is.

I can't drench this card in water. It is way to risky for the potential gain. If there was a less invasive way of brightening the boarders only I would consider that but it does not sound like there is anything that simple

Good decision

send it to me I'll soak it for you...no charge!!!!!

Out of curiosity what is the highest dollar card you drowned?

http://www.net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=221203

One more time

I read the thread, granted quickly. I also re-read this one and I don't get the "one more time" reference.

I do not know the price of the Walter Johnson card in the post, so I would say I am completely lost on that comment.

I have decided already that that I will not light 10 thousand dollars on fire, and decided not to attempt a soaking on the card for minimal gain.

I was just curious to know the highest value card that has been soaked by someone on this board. Maybe that is an idea for a new thread.

Thanks again for your the replies.

Don't know about actual value, do know that there is a way higher chance of a high end card being drowned and burnt than a cheap card. Cleaning a beater might get you a extra $20 but clean a high end card and it is extra $1000s.

15kish

That is a fairly high value to soak but I would do the same if the card warrented it. I am sure I have soaked several k valued cards before....probably not up to 10k but if I had one that I thought it would help I would (very carefully)....