Show your soaks!
 

I picked up a Bresnahan Portrait SGC 10 on eBay a few months ago. At the time, I couldn't tell if it was paper loss or paper attached. Much to my surprise, it came off easily. Very happy with the results. Anyone else want to share?
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/08/17/pyqyzupe.jpg

I don't have the before picture but this card had an approximately dime sized piece of paper stuck to the upper back. It blocked out quite a few of the words. Not anymore....

http://luckeycards.com/pt2123weaver.jpg

Can 1914 Cracker Jacks be soaked? It's not a legit thread these days without mention of 1914 CJ's, but seriously, can they?

Soaking makes me nervous. I've never done it, but that Hindu was definitely worth it!

The hindu and the weavers are amazing cards!!!

I've never done it because I'm way too paranoid, but I have a friend that does, and he told me 1914's soak very well. I've been told that any amazingly white bordered, pristine looking, stain-free 1914's have probably been soaked at some point. I of course don't know if that's true, however.

I have soaked a 14 CJ with no issues.

Sweet Cap
 

Chris,

Incredible work !!

When I bought this card it had an old stamp hinge on the reverse. Got it off relatively easily and was very happy with the grade.

http://www.net54baseball.com/picture...ictureid=16049http://www.net54baseball.com/picture...ictureid=16050

Here's another recent one:http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14...b0f31fe4a6.jpg

I agree... Very nice, Chris. Did that just float off?

Amazing how good these came out. Erick did the glue have any effect on the
front of the Hindu?

I've wanted to soak Joe since I got him for that green collar he's wearing. Never had the "fortitude" to follow through. Anyone tried a similar stain?

http://caimages.collectors.com/psaim...n_original.jpg

Any tips on how to do this for someone who has never tried? Soak it in water only? How long? Do you do anything to the card after you take it out or just lay it flat?

I recently soaked a T206 Cobb that was tragically stained. I'll post video and photos after it comes from the grader. Not expecting a grade bump, just a palatable appearance.

I'd love to hear more too, and will it work with 05's? I worry about the effect on the gold borders.

I like the yellow-brown glue.

I've only soaked two cards, lots of good info if you search the forum. Tap or filtered room temperature water, left it for an hour and gently peeled the paper off. Sandwiched the card between paper towels and some heavy books overnight.

Filmed the removal.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1QFe7T8zK8

Same as Chris, except I use warm water and change it out every 30 min or so. Also place my tweezers on top of the card so it doesn't float around.

I'm not sure if this wrinkling was caused by the glue... But there's no apparent color change.
http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14...8a820067aa.jpg

Erick, nice pickup on that Hindu!

I've never soaked a card. Do you guys think I could soak the grime off of my McGraw?

maybe
 

You might be able to get a bit of that grime off... it obviously wouldn't help the technical grade, but it will look a little nicer. That said, you may want to try with a lesser card first if you've never soaked before.

Same. I use a tuperware container with warm-ish water and change it out every 30 min to an hour. I use a large marble to weigh the card down.

Sometimes it works with stains... sometimes it doesn't. I've also ran into some glue residue that just refuses to come off. There are T206s floating around out there with small rectangular green glue stains and I can't get those off no matter how many times I soak.

T206s are pretty resilient when it comes to soaking. Don't be afraid to leave them in the water for a long time. I've actually forgot about them before and went to sleep. The next morning they were fine.

Oh and like someone else mentioned, I put them between paper towels and then stack a few heavy books on top while they dry. Every now and then I move the card to a dry spot on the paper towels.

After you've soaked them, is there a technique to removing the paper? Or does it normally just fall off on it's own?

Jordan
 

I cracked it out to soak it, it was only a 1 anyway. My first time soaking a card. Well worth it.

Very nice!

Sometimes the paper floats off. Other times there is just a corner or two that lifts. In those cases I have gently pulled the paper with tweezers. If there's any resistance, I stop and then let sit longer.

The paper might float off, but what about the glue and stains? Do those float off too or do you have to gently use something like a q-tip?

I am fascinated by this. I think I will look for a couple of cheap beaters and practice a little once I am confident I have the steps down.

from my experience...paper remnants will usually just float off...or gentle movement of the card will cause paper to come off too.

I have gently blotted with a qtip...operative term being very gently. The soaking itself(with distilled...warm water) will cause a lot of gunk to come off...personally I would not try to mechanically remove stains.

Agreed. Use tweezers also carefully. Can let it sit for hours in water.

If you try and do too much removal, sometimes surface begins to come off. Thats where you stop.

Someone asked about T205 - I have a WaJo that presents about a 6 on the front, but has some glue residue on the back- readable, but obviously glued. Quite similar to the Lumley shown earlier. Will soaking affect the borders on a T205?

National Copper Plate Supplement. Hard to tell from the scans, but the soaking really cleaned a lot of dirt off the surface as well.

I will dig through my scans later. I love soaking cards (and so does my wife).

I've never really soaked any cards until recently I tried on a couple junk commons including an e121 beater....

I've been wanting a decent looking Sisler E121 and snagged this one on ebay for pretty cheap I thought. I got it and worked up the courage to give it a bath.

before....

I'm very pleased. This is the after....

Seems like a "That's what she said" type of quote.:)

I soaked this Cobb, not for a better grade but for a cleaner look.

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k4...psb150e597.jpghttp://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k4...psfd5e1213.jpg

Poor condition pre and post soaking but the paper came off the back good.