Card soaking - the results!

[Vintagedeputy]

Last week I asked for opinions here and on the non-sports site about soaking glue off a vintage Allen and Ginter card.

Some people felt that the card had already been soaked based on the photos. I was positive that was not true because I could feel the glue across the back and see the brushstrokes from whatever was used to apply it. I knew that the glue was still there.

Others felt that soaking would have no effect on the card whatsoever, and it would look the same as when I started.

Last night, I finally got around to trying. First, I used a pencil eraser to remove the dealer’s pencil markings. Then, I filled a shallow aluminum pan with about 1 inch of very warm tapwater. I placed the card, glue side up in the pan and as it began to float, I rested the bowl part of a metal spoon on the top section of the card where there seemed to be no glue. I let it soak for about 8 to 10 minutes and then took a Q-tip and gently rubbed the back of the card while still underwater. I could see that even before I got to the Q-tip, the glue appeared to be virtually all gone. I removed the card from the water, placed it in a paper towel, covering both sides, and put a heavy object on top of it. I replaced the paper towel a few times and then left it overnight. Here are the final results.

The original card and the soaked version:


Resulting thoughts - it worked! The glue came off and the card looks great! There seemed to be no issue with loss of printing or color on the front of the card. It looks exactly the same.

ETA - After looking at the photos online, there does seem to be some areas where the printing is a bit lighter than on the original. Not sure if that was from the soaking or is a function of the light when the photo was taken. In either case, I'm still happy.

The one thing that I thought especially interesting was that the glue seemed to offer a protective coating to the card. Where the glue was, you can see what looks like the original color of the card stock. Around the areas where the glue was not present, you can see the hundred plus years of dirt and staining which affected the card.

Thanks all for your input.
Jim

[ALBB]

yes, much better ..no doubt

[BillyCoxDodgers3B]

Nothing better than a $2 investment to help you learn the ins and outs of soaking a 135 year old card! We can be very thankful for the existence of these non-sport A&Gs.

[Vintagedeputy]

Originally Posted by BillyCoxDodgers3B

Nothing better than a $2 investment to help you learn the ins and outs of soaking a 135 year-old card! We can be very thankful for the existence of these non-sport A&Gs.

Agreed! Very thankful. If my attempts had ruined the card though, I'd still be sad even though I had only invested $2 but since it came out looking so nice, I am quite happy with the results!

[mrreality68]

Originally Posted by Vintagedeputy

Agreed! Very thankful. If my attempts had ruined the card though, I'd still be sad even though I had only invested $2 but since it came out looking so nice, I am quite happy with the results!

Congrats and hopefully you doubled your money

[Vintagedeputy]

Originally Posted by mrreality68

Congrats and hopefully you doubled your money

It may have even tripled!

[BillyCoxDodgers3B]

I'm an autograph guy. Haven't been into unsigned cards for decades, but had always wanted to try my hand at soaking. Finally had the opportunity when I discovered this beauty pasted onto the back of a rather meaningless signed album page. For my first attempt, I was definitely pleased! Have had the occasion to try a couple of other times since, but the cards weren't practically pack fresh like this thing!

I do notice now that this one could benefit from an additional soaking to remove that staining from where it had been pressed against the facing album page for 70+ years.

[bobbyw8469]

Do you have a BEFORE pic?

[Snowman]

Originally Posted by BillyCoxDodgers3B

I do notice now that this one could benefit from an additional soaking to remove that staining from where it had been pressed against the facing album page for 70+ years.

The facing album page must be more acidic than the card because that stain looks like acid damage to me. That won't come out just by soaking it in water longer.

[BillyCoxDodgers3B]

Bobby: I do have a before pic somewhere, but it's nothing interesting. It's only of the front of the card on the album page. I can tell you that after separating card from page, only a lone spot of paste remained on the back. This was removed with a Q-Tip. It was definitely attached to the album page with much more than that one spot of substance. The rest seemingly dissolved in the bath.

Travis: Thanks for your experienced insight, which I agree with. It's too bad no further improvement can be made, but I'm still very content with the result since this was my inaugural attempt.

[Prof_Plum]

A couple of 'scientific' concepts that might help with soaking are using a larger bath volume and more frequent bath changes.

[bcbgcbrcb]

We should just be able to send our album pages to PSA and have them soak the cards, remove them and then grade and encapsulate. Works for the comic book industry with CGC pressing and then grading books. Why not cards?

[Snowman]

Originally Posted by BillyCoxDodgers3B

Travis: Thanks for your experienced insight, which I agree with. It's too bad no further improvement can be made, but I'm still very content with the result since this was my inaugural attempt.

Further improvements can be made. But it would require something else in addition to just water.