Card Soaking

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Posted By: Chris Nerat

Hey guys,

This is strictly for experimental purposes only. A few of our readers posted a thread in our forums about card soaking.

I have never done this, nor would I expect that any of you guys would advise a collector to try this, but I wanted to video tape the process and see what people's reactions would be.

From what I understand, you just take a card that has a crease, place it in a pan with distilled water and then flatten the creases somehow??

Can someone help me... Like I said, this is just something I thought would make an interesting video.

Thanks guys.

chris

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Posted By: Matt

Kevin S has done a detailed walk through of the process here:
http://www.alteredcards.com/soak.htm

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Posted By: T206Collector

It really depends on the card you're talking about here. Lithographs, like T206 cards, soak extremely well; Topps cards, on the other hand, are in my experience irreparably damaged by soaking, since the image cracks.

If you're talking about soaking a T206 card, I would only advise it in the context of paper or paste removal -- as when the card is being removed from a scrapbook. It does not, again, in my experience, make wrinkles or creases disappear. I suppose there may be some reduction in the actual bend of the card, but wrinkles and creases are as far as I have seen basically there to stay. You might see some advantage in a spider wrinkle that doesn't break the cardboard, but it would be really minimal.

Buy a T206 card with paper or glue stuck on the back. Soak the card in water -- some would say distilled water only, but I've used tap without repurcussions -- for a few minutes. Use a QTip to gently rub off the paper or glue. Press dry the card between two sheets of printer paper under a heavy book or other object. Switch out the paper after 10 or 15 minutes and replace it with dry paper. And leave the card to press thereafter overnight.

Finally, grading companies -- at least PSA and SGC -- are aware of this practice in pre-war vintage as it is detectable if not done perfectly well or if scrap/glue remains, and they will grade the card; though it will be hurt in technical grade by whatever remnants remain.

Good luck and maybe I'll post a video of this one day on my website. But I don't soak the autographed ones for fear of hurting the autograph and that is basically all I collect anymore.

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Posted By: Chris Nerat

thanks for the detailed response!

chris

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Posted By: Hagar Henderson

That would take big baseBALLS to put a valuable card in water. I could never get up the nerve to try it.

From an ethical standpoint, they're your cards so do with them as you please. However, I would not sell to someone without disclosing what had been done.

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Posted By: fkw

Ive soaked hundreds of cards...... but never to TRY to remove a crease.

Most people soak cards to remove scrapbook residue or even remove the scrapbook page.
Very common with 19th Century Victorian Tradecards. Id estimate 80-90% were removed from a scrapbook at some time.

PS dont soak a real photo card (ie N172, T200, T222, AZO postcard, etc.