T206 Paper Stock

[FrankWakefield]

I have occasionally encountered a white border card that I'm fairly sure was soaked. And some that I'm certain have not been soaked, at least not soaked any time in the past few years.

Why do I think this? Among white border cards that I acquired in the past couple of months was one that had a few tiny dirt (maybe tobacco) spots on there, and a bit of staining in places on the back. I soaked it for an afternoon, the front specks fell to the bottom of the glass, thew stains were water soluble and dissolved away. A (slightly) better looking card was the result. Same thing with a recent white border card that had remnants of flower paste on the back, that in places slightly obscured the Sweet Caporal design. All of that paste dissolved and the card looks better.

On cards that I'm quite sure someone else soaked, I sometimes notice they seem a bit thinner. And over the past few years of seeing that I've decided that some guys who soak cards feel compelled to physically press the card with great force to mash the water out. I'm serious in saying that those cards feel slightly thinner. I think sometimes the 'thinner' feel is due to that, soaking then over-blotting / mashing. I think enough force is necessary to have the card drying flat... but I think the goal is to have the card dry flat, not for it to be mashed flat. I haven't done this in a few years, but I recall soaking a few cards that seemed previously soaked and smashed, so that I could let them dry in a less smashed condition, and the results were successful.

So, for some of these thin cards, look at them and consider that someone super-pressed them after they soaked them.