Soaking Question
 

Forgive me that the card in question is slightly post-War and hockey, but we all love talking soaking!

This old beater had seven decades of filth on it and I wanted to freshen it up a bit. It's coming along nicely, having been soaking all day with 4 changes of water so far. It needed it, surprisingly.

Please note the area at middle right. The soiling was the heaviest there as you can see. The question is in regards to what on earth is going on with it? Literally seconds after I immersed it, this stain appeared out of nowhere! Has anyone ever dealt with this? Care to take a guess as to what's going on with that?! I am hopeful that it will once again disappear after the drying process. This is a first!

I do not think that card will soak well. I think the top surface layer of smooth finished paper will release from the coarse inner paper.

As for what's going on with that darkness that appeared on the right side... I think something at some point in time soaked into the card, and then was wiped off of the surface. The soaking has brought some of whatever it was (coffee, cola?) back to the surface.

I wish you well with it.

Thanks for the reply.

Parkies tend to soak well in my experience. No separation.

In the drying stage now. I'll check on it shortly.

Well, it disappeared as I had hoped.

Card has a slight curl from the soak, so will continue to keep pressing it. These cards sometimes seem to be prone to curling even if not soaked.

The before and after might not look so dissimilar from the photos, but the white is definitely more vibrant now.

It looks better for sure! I have not ever soaked a card as I am too scared. I have one that I believe would be the perfect candidate but I just cant do it. Its a 53 Mays and its the most I have ever paid for a card, more than 2x as much actually! I paid 1,110 for it a few years ago because I wanted to complete the 53 set (my fave) and that was the only one left. Someone should start a business soaking cards for chickens like me.

https://www.net54baseball.com/pictur...ictureid=30262

I wouldn't attempt that one, either. Smart move. Others on here will be better able to guide you if '53s are even safe to soak. This is not my area of expertise.

Mine was a $20 card, so didn't have any qualms about trying. I knew going into it that Parkhurst cards are great candidates for soaking and had done so with Parkies from various years already.

Having soaked a whole bunch of stuff over the years, I can offer a small piece of advice:
Overly examine and assess the edges and corners in a search for breaches - anything that will allow the water to seep under the cardboard skin of a card. That type of wet undermining can cause weird stains/dark areas to materialize after it's dried, or even weaken the surface of a card enough in areas to look as if it's been bubbled out.

I can fix/rescue it for you. I've soaked countless 1953 Topps cards. That stain will definitely come out.

This set is the most challenging set to clean from the 1950s, but if you know what you're doing, you can get them cleaned safely.