Cards that CAN and CANNOT be soaked?!

[conor912]

Originally Posted by yanks87

OK, I kinda get that analogy, but at the same time I think it only holds up for something like rubber cement which can in most cases be rubbed off (hey now!), but when the card as a whole has to be dipped to remove glue, I think it gets in the gray area of doing overall damage to the integrity of the card.

So using your analogy, you would clean the bird poop off the '63 by submerging the entire car in water to remove it. Though you have removed the blemish, you have compromised the card as a whole in the process.

Splitting hairs I guess, but I feel it is a bigger deal than just a surface removal, and either way, the card is altered in my opinion.

What would you say to do about a card that had water-based paint spilled on it? The aesthetic value is ruined. You now have 3 options: 1) throw it away 2) keep it as-is or 3) soak it in water and get back its aesthetic value. Then what about oil-based paint that would require solvent? I'm not saying there's a right or wrong, necessarily, though I think that's where most would probably (at least claim to) draw the line.

Everyone falls on a different place on the ethical spectrum for everything, so I try not to judge, but I think it's safe to say that the majority of people want the things they own (and/or are trying to sell) to be as nice and presentable as possible.

[yanks87]

Originally Posted by conor912

What would you say to do about a card that had water-based paint spilled on it? The aesthetic value is ruined. You now have 3 options: 1) throw it away 2) keep it as-is or 3) soak it in water and get back its aesthetic value. Then what about oil-based paint that would require solvent? I'm not saying there's a right or wrong, necessarily, though I think that's where most would probably (at least claim to) draw the line.

Everyone falls on a different place on the ethical spectrum for everything, so I try not to judge, but I think it's safe to say that the majority of people want the things they own (and/or are trying to sell) to be as nice and presentable as possible.

That sounds like my kind of card! I am definitely on the spectrum, or at least I have been told as such. If a card had something dropped on it, it is up to the owner what to do with it. Does that ruin the aesthetic to me, no, but to others it may. Tobacco Stains, Caramel Stains, hell kid's writing positions on cards provides more validation than any grading could ever to me, but that is to me. I would NEVER take a solvent to a card, or for that matter soak a card to remove glue, for fear what it would do to the actual card. I have a feeling I am in the minority, but there is an aura of hypocrisy that this post exists at the same time as the other post about buffing newer card surfaces to get better grades. Apples to apples in my book. But again, my opinion and thank you for the reply!

[conor912]

I guess when you think about, cardboard is essentially wood pounded into a slurry with water, then pressed and dried. Is temporarily reintroducing water back into it really changing it? If you wash and dry a dirty shirt, have you changed the shirt?

Now we’re back to the mind-f*cky part

[yanks87]

Originally Posted by conor912

I guess when you think about, cardboard is essentially wood pounded into a slurry with water, then pressed and dried. Is temporarily reintroducing water back into it really changing it? If you wash and dry a dirty shirt, have you changed the shirt?

Now we’re back to the mind-f*cky part

EXACTLY. And yes you have changed the shirt, fibers break down during every wash, but that might be going down a rabbit hole it's best to stay out of!!