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scottto make their own cards look better. We have discussed "soaking" numerous times on the board, as a way to remove cards from scrapbook pages with minimal damage (thanks to everyone for their input). "Pressing" has to be done after soaking to remove paper/glue or you wasted your time removing the paper/glue. Example - Billjo won a huge auction of t206 scrapbook pages recently - we exchanged some emails as both of us have experience in removing cards from scrapbook pages (he has been doing it much,much longer than me). In Billjo's case, it was definitely a skill he posssesses that allows a lot of other people to enjoy these t206's in a much nicer form (if you saw the auction images you'll know what I mean) and I can attest to the fact that it is not something that you will get down perfect the first time you try it. And yes, he gets some compensation for that skill, which I see nothing wrong with.
I also remove other foreign matter from my cards whenever it is possible to enhance the visual appeal without actually altering the card. If you attempt to "flick" off tobacco residue from a t206, you will find that no matter how gently you do it, a small bit of the top layer of the card will come off as well. Soaking, on the other hand, does the job perfectly. Caramel residue can usually be removed easily without soaking, but you have to be very careful. Constant checking with a 10x to see if you are doing damage is a must.
I have not been able to tell the difference between the "before" and "after" cards in terms of surface luster, so I have no problem with soaking. I have also soaked a few test cards to remove dirt and stains, and have had very little luck. As said before, I had no idea that this process would also remove wrinkles, but I certainly will watch for that the next time I do it.
The soaking/pressing method really works well for 1800's trade cards - the glue and excess paper comes right off with very minimal soaking. In fact, I would just wet down a cloth with warm (distilled) water and gently rub off the glue/paper without even soaking.
I press the old thick tradecards BENEATH a stack of books, on a flat surface. But with t205s and t206s, I put them in a book in a bookcase vertically and cram books to either side, for maximum compression. This is because they have to be soaked longer and have more of a tendency to bow if you don't press them hard and long enough.
If you don't get all the glue off, the results will be terrible - especially with t205s as the back layer of paper seems to rub off more easily than with t206s.