Thinking of Soaking off Scrap paper from '55 Clementes

[LACardsGuy]

So, this whole thing scares the beejeebuz out of me, but I have two Clemente rookies, both of which were glued down at some point in their lives. I have been practicing on other cards that came with them and so far seems like it might be okay. Checked in with SGC and they told me that doing this does not automatically make it altered or automatically Authentic at best. Mainly, i just don't want a bunch of old construction paper on the back of them.

Have not taken the plunge. Wondering if anyone else has tried to do this with 50s Topps cards. Below are the two cards in question:

[IMG]IMG_6429 by Philip Golden, on Flickr[/IMG]

[IMG]IMG_6430 by Philip Golden, on Flickr[/IMG]

[ullmandds]

U sure its not paper loss? Depends on the type of glue that was used which will determine whether it comes off or not.

[LACardsGuy]

judging by the other cards, the one in photo that shows back of card is more scrap book paper that didn't come off. The first photo shows the other card that is still attached to paper beyond its borders

[Chris Counts]

It looks like scrapbook residue to me. I've never successfully soaked Topps cards. I know lots of people do it with T206s, and I had great luck soaking some 1941 Play Balls out of an album.

[FrankWakefield]

First, DON'T DO ANYTHING YET!!!


Next, read what others have posted. My first quick glance at the Clemente made me think it was paper LOSS, not scrapbook paper. Old tobacco cards were often flour pasted into scrapbook pages. Topps cards were seldom pasted in a scrapbook. Flour paste will dissolve with water, most glues won't. Old tobacco cards withstand soaking extremely well. Most Topps cards DON'T.

Before you soak that card, think about the down side of you waiting in 2 or 3 weeks to soak that Clemente card... Realistically, no down side. The up side is you have time to learn. Search on eBay and buy 2 or 3 very worn 1955 Topps cards. When you get them, soak the worst one for an hour, then dab water away, then let it air dry for a bit (I like standing on edge for 20 minutes or so), then press it enough to let it dry flat. The goal is for the card to still be flat while your blotting paper absorbs the moisture. Try to avoid mashing the water out of the card so that you end up with a thinner card (mashing increases the damage done). Then, assess your results and soak another 1955 Topps...

ADDED... having reassessed the photos, I see the one card on a page. It looks glued to me. I don't think that glue will dissolve with water. If you're determined to get that off, then give thought to this: cut away a bit of that big paper that has excess glue on it, it's to the right of that Pirate logo in the top right corner of the card. Don't use all of it, use little pieces of that as you search for something that will dissolve it. I think you'll need a non-polar solvent, think alcohol, lighter fluid, carbon tetrachloride... something like alcohol lamp fuel from Lowe's . lighter fluid will leave a slightly oily residue and a scent. I'm not wanting you to put that on the Clemente card, but rather see if any of those will dissolve that glue. If you find something that dissolves it

I think you'll find that 1955 Topps don't soak very well.

Are both cards that you're wanting to soak 1955s?


If the paper is absolutely/definitely scrapbook paper (which I doubt from the picture) then you don't have to soak the card, just dampen the scrapbook paper so that it softens, then gently nudge with a Qtip to remove, then gently 'wash' that spot to remove paste residue (most glues won't soak well). Try this first on one of your practice 1955 Topps cards from the eBay purchase... with a pinch of flour paste a piece of tissue or toilet paper onto one of your practice Topps cards, and after it has had time to dry, then try to dampen and nudge...

[Peter_Spaeth]

Under Daffy Nitions part of the white area is raised. That can't be paper loss?

[FrankWakefield]

It may be raised, and then it'd not be paper loss.

But it also might have places that are paper loss under the added paper.

EG, I try to peel a 1955 Topps card off of a scrapbook page, when I'm done I see some card remnants on the page... Hmmmm... I cement that Topps card onto a scrapbook page and sell that to someone on eBay or somewhere. Point is, no telling about what's going on with the back we don't see.


I'm frustrated that all of what I tried to explain didn't survive my 20th century skill set in the 21st century thread editing process.... part of it vanished, maybe I hit an errant combination of keys.

[pclpads]

So what have you got to lose? It's not like you are fooling with a NM card. From the pics, I'd call it VG at best even w/o the excess paper. So, a successful soaking attempt won't raise the initial grade. I did the soak act a while ago with a couple of '52T having the same kind of excess paper. Paper came off no sweat, after a 30 min soak in warm tap water. After removing the excess paper, I pressed both cards inside a few paper towels like Bounty, to suck up the moisture, stuck them enclosed in the Bounty wrap on a hard flat surface weighted down with three cinder blocks. Checked on the effort in 24 hours and . . . Bingo! Mission accomplished!

[NiceDocter]

Originally Posted by FrankWakefield

It may be raised, and then it'd not be paper loss.

But it also might have places that are paper loss under the added paper.

EG, I try to peel a 1955 Topps card off of a scrapbook page, when I'm done I see some card remnants on the page... Hmmmm... I cement that Topps card onto a scrapbook page and sell that to someone on eBay or somewhere. Point is, no telling about what's going on with the back we don't see.


I'm frustrated that all of what I tried to explain didn't survive my 20th century skill set in the 21st century thread editing process.... part of it vanished, maybe I hit an errant combination of keys.

Excellent point which we all need to remember...... its is always possible that you are NOT the first person to attempt to remove paper or glue..... you never know whats under there as far as a prior failed rescue mission! Good luck!!

[mrreality68]

Nice piece

Tough decision

Good luck either way

[ALBB]

Ive done it many times...lightly wet area ..let it set in...gently scrape with finger nail....when done..you will see glue residue left

[wpeters]

I would use an eye dropper with distilled water to wet only the scrapbook paper. Let it soak in for a few minutes and gently scrape it off with a razor blade. You may have to re-wet the scrapbook paper once you scrape off a layer and repeat the process until you have removed all the residue.

[Leon]

Originally Posted by wpeters

I would use an eye dropper with distilled water to wet only the scrapbook paper. Let it soak in for a few minutes and gently scrape it off with a razor blade. You may have to re-wet the scrapbook paper once you scrape off a layer and repeat the process until you have removed all the residue.

That sounds good but I use a Q tip to scrape off the residue. It has worked many times.
.

[Kzoo]

50's cards soak well. Excess paper should release and float in 10 minutes or less IF the glue used was water based back when they were pasted into the scrapbook. I would not hesitate trying it, but you need to submerge the whole card in distilled water and then dry it at an even rate between paper towel, changing them out frequently early on when the card is the dampest. I've had great success with 53-57 Topps & Bowman cards in the past. If you're still hesitant, send them to an experienced Net54 member and we can give them a try. Hope this helps!

[LACardsGuy]

Thanks!
Using some of the cheap cards from the group, I have assessed that the stuff on back of the one is definitely scrapbook paper. I soaked a variety of different 55s and 56s from the group, and it always came off. Have been drying between paper towels between some cookbooks. When they are dry (still moist after about 12 hours), i'll post of scans. Not doing anything to Clementes (two of them) yet.

Originally Posted by FrankWakefield

First, DON'T DO ANYTHING YET!!!


Next, read what others have posted. My first quick glance at the Clemente made me think it was paper LOSS, not scrapbook paper. Old tobacco cards were often flour pasted into scrapbook pages. Topps cards were seldom pasted in a scrapbook. Flour paste will dissolve with water, most glues won't. Old tobacco cards withstand soaking extremely well. Most Topps cards DON'T.

Before you soak that card, think about the down side of you waiting in 2 or 3 weeks to soak that Clemente card... Realistically, no down side. The up side is you have time to learn. Search on eBay and buy 2 or 3 very worn 1955 Topps cards. When you get them, soak the worst one for an hour, then dab water away, then let it air dry for a bit (I like standing on edge for 20 minutes or so), then press it enough to let it dry flat. The goal is for the card to still be flat while your blotting paper absorbs the moisture. Try to avoid mashing the water out of the card so that you end up with a thinner card (mashing increases the damage done). Then, assess your results and soak another 1955 Topps...

ADDED... having reassessed the photos, I see the one card on a page. It looks glued to me. I don't think that glue will dissolve with water. If you're determined to get that off, then give thought to this: cut away a bit of that big paper that has excess glue on it, it's to the right of that Pirate logo in the top right corner of the card. Don't use all of it, use little pieces of that as you search for something that will dissolve it. I think you'll need a non-polar solvent, think alcohol, lighter fluid, carbon tetrachloride... something like alcohol lamp fuel from Lowe's . lighter fluid will leave a slightly oily residue and a scent. I'm not wanting you to put that on the Clemente card, but rather see if any of those will dissolve that glue. If you find something that dissolves it

I think you'll find that 1955 Topps don't soak very well.

Are both cards that you're wanting to soak 1955s?


If the paper is absolutely/definitely scrapbook paper (which I doubt from the picture) then you don't have to soak the card, just dampen the scrapbook paper so that it softens, then gently nudge with a Qtip to remove, then gently 'wash' that spot to remove paste residue (most glues won't soak well). Try this first on one of your practice 1955 Topps cards from the eBay purchase... with a pinch of flour paste a piece of tissue or toilet paper onto one of your practice Topps cards, and after it has had time to dry, then try to dampen and nudge...

[LACardsGuy]

this is same thing i have been doing on the other commons. What I have to lose is if it just destroys card. I had a bad experience trying to do this with a '34 Hank Greenberg years ago. DESTROYED the card. Big bummer

Originally Posted by pclpads

So what have you got to lose? It's not like you are fooling with a NM card. From the pics, I'd call it VG at best even w/o the excess paper. So, a successful soaking attempt won't raise the initial grade. I did the soak act a while ago with a couple of '52T having the same kind of excess paper. Paper came off no sweat, after a 30 min soak in warm tap water. After removing the excess paper, I pressed both cards inside a few paper towels like Bounty, to suck up the moisture, stuck them enclosed in the Bounty wrap on a hard flat surface weighted down with three cinder blocks. Checked on the effort in 24 hours and . . . Bingo! Mission accomplished!

[LACardsGuy]

After days and days of hemming and hawing, i pulled the trigger. Scrapbook paper came right off. There does seem to be some shininess where the glue was, but i can live with it. No damage and fronts (if anything) look a bit cleaner than before. Suppose I could do it again to try to get the glue (?) off, but I don't want to tempt fate.

[IMG]clementes by Philip Golden, on Flickr[/IMG]

[IMG]clemente backs by Philip Golden, on Flickr[/IMG]

[Snowman]

Originally Posted by LACardsGuy

After days and days of hemming and hawing, i pulled the trigger. Scrapbook paper came right off. There does seem to be some shininess where the glue was, but i can live with it. No damage and fronts (if anything) look a bit cleaner than before. Suppose I could do it again to try to get the glue (?) off, but I don't want to tempt fate.

[IMG]clementes by Philip Golden, on Flickr[/IMG]

[IMG]clemente backs by Philip Golden, on Flickr[/IMG]

Looks great! Nice work. I would be happy with that. It now looks like a nice card that was carefully removed from a scrapbook. Nothing wrong with that.

[FrankWakefield]

Congratulations!

You have two nice looking Clemente cards. And you learned quite a bit. If you gather other cards with scrapbook remnants, paste, or glue, one day... you may recognize that what you've learned is more valuable than the 2 Clemente cards.