I don't see anything wrong with soaking cards and other stuff out of scrapbooks and albums with water. I've done it myself many times, though not with anything expensive.
If it doesn't harm the card, and releases it from it's jail. No harm, no foul.
THAT, is not a product of water restoration, distilled or otherwise. The first time, in the REA auction. Yes. No biggie.
To bump it up to a (7)? You could soak an old piece of paper/cardboard with that much toning for days, and it wouldn't come out that clean......and even if it did, the paper would have soaked too much water into it's fibers for too long to recover to it's original state. Like stretching the rubber band in your underwear for too long.
Just my opinion, but I think it's pretty "Cut & Dry"
See what I did there?
