Need a little of advice on a Carmelo Deportivo album

Originally Posted by ElCabron

No need for a professional. It would cost more than the album's worth. Easy to do yourself. To a Net54 search for soaking cards.

-Ryan

"Easy to do it yourself" means "its easier said than done"

[prewarsports]

I've done two of those albums and one was a piece of cake, the other was a disaster. Black ink is usually not water soluble but if you put ANY pressure on the fronts of those cards when wet they will completely rub away so be VERY careful not to touch the fronts.

[Northviewcats]

Originally Posted by prewarsports

I've done two of those albums and one was a piece of cake, the other was a disaster. Black ink is usually not water soluble but if you put ANY pressure on the fronts of those cards when wet they will completely rub away so be VERY careful not to touch the fronts.

Thanks for the heads-up.

Was there any difference in the condition of the two albums before you soaked them?

Best regards,

Joe

[prewarsports]

Not that I remember, the first one was the disaster (several of the umpires on the front page got flat out ruined. Second time around and with some more experience they came out awesome. I would just not touch the cards at all, let them soak and float off the page then air dry, don't touch the ink at all or it will smear. I think on the first few I tried to rub the glue residue off the back and the pressure to the fronts ruined the ink and smeared it. It might have had something to do with the glue, I don't know, just be careful not to smear the ink and they should be fine.

[Michael B]

I have not soaked these types of albums so I defer to Rhys on this. However, the one thing that nobody mentions when discussing soaking an item is that distilled water is the best type to use. It has no chemicals and is purified. You should be able to find it in CVS, Walgreens, Rite-Aid or a real drug store for about $2 a gallon or less. The chemicals in tap water can affect the item and that is difficult to predict. As previously mentioned, most early glues are water soluble, due to their makeup. I may also suggest using pyrex style glass baking dishes or good plastic trays to soak the item. Metal trays could introduce metal into the water which could also leave rust stains.

I have soaked some scrapbooks and other items and it always works well with those. I have also cleaned old engravings in a similar manner. Using a solution of 10 to 1 warm water to bleach can clean old book engravings. You cannot touch the engraving itself while wet as it will smear. You will see the engraving whiten, you remove and hang by a corner, let dry and it looks brand new. I have done this with quite a few 1840's to 1860's book engravings. This will not work with old magazines or newspapers. You need a special deacidification solution for those. This is only for engravings, not prints from books.

[glynparson]

and if you have additional questions about it I would ask Ryan. He is certainly the board expert on these (Cuban) issues and I would surely defer to his experience and expertise.

[T206DK]

these cards are very delicate when wet.....BE CAREFUL.

[ElCabron]

Originally Posted by rgpete

"Easy to do it yourself" means "its easier said than done"

Not sure what translator you're using, but "Easy to do it yourself" means that it's easy to do it yourself.

-Ryan

Originally Posted by ElCabron

Not sure what translator you're using, but "Easy to do it yourself" means that it's easy to do it yourself.

-Ryan

Common Sense