A Cautionary Tale - Water and removing gunk.

[toppcat]

Originally Posted by conor912

Yes, its noticeable, but i wouldn’t say they’re ruined. I have only ever heard of the nylon trick solely for dry removal of wax buildup. I would Personally never ever rub the surface of a card with anything with water introduced.

I find plain white paper towels will remove wax from a card front with ease.

[bobbyw8469]

Originally Posted by toppcat

I find plain white paper towels will remove wax from a card front with ease.

That's not really wax. That's gunk. An unknown substance.

[Shoeless Moe]

Tony Gunk?

[brob28]

I have found that Goudey's don't soak as well as other cards such as T-206's. I've had good results removing paper and glue from past scrapbook adhesion, but not much else.

[rhettyeakley]

Goudey's (along with modern Topps/Bowman) do not soak well at all. They are not constructed the same way as cards like T206.

T206 cards & many other early sets had the ink directly applied to the paper board itself, which was a single piece of board stock. If you notice Goudey's, Topps, Bowman's are actually very thin layers of paper attached to the front (and in the case of Goudey's-back) and that thin layer is easily damaged as in this case.

You got 2 different tips mixed up in your head. You NEVER apply any pressure when soaking to the surface itself, at most you simply take the pad of your thumb and in a circular motion apply just the slightest amount of pressure or with the tip of a fluffed/teased Q-tip... never use a nylon or anything abrasive.

NYLONS--use only on dry (not soaked) cards for the removal of wax stains, this works on fronts of cards as the wax is on top of the thin layer of paper that has the image (not part of the actual stock but glued to it, conversely this doesn't really work on the back of most Topps cards at that surface is the board stock itself and the wax will actually soak slightly into the stock itself.

Also, take note for soaking that things start getting really murky in the mid-to-late 1920's (but mostly early 1930's). Up to that point most glue used by old-time collectors was paste, either store bought or home-made flour/water mixture. While paste can stain it is also VERY water soluble and can be removed if you know what to do. By the late 1920's/early 1930's people started using more industrial type "glue" to adhere things and often this glue is almost impossible to remove using simple water, normally some other type of solvent is necessary (if at all possible). Elmer's Glue for example is NOT water soluble in any way.

[todeen]

Originally Posted by rhettyeakley

Also, take note for soaking that things start getting really murky in the mid-to-late 1920's (but mostly early 1930's). Up to that point most glue used by old-time collectors was paste, either store bought or home-made flour/water mixture. While paste can stain it is also VERY water soluble and can be removed if you know what to do. By the late 1920's/early 1930's people started using more industrial type "glue" to adhere things and often this glue is almost impossible to remove using simple water, normally some other type of solvent is necessary (if at all possible). Elmer's Glue for example is NOT water soluble in any way.

OT: same goes for wood working. At some point people stopped using HYDE GLUE, which is water soluble. If you are trying to repair an antique, don't use modern wood glue. Use hyde glue. Then you can fix your mistake if you screw up.

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[tschock]

Originally Posted by rhettyeakley

Also, take note for soaking that things start getting really murky in the mid-to-late 1920's (but mostly early 1930's). Up to that point most glue used by old-time collectors was paste, either store bought or home-made flour/water mixture. While paste can stain it is also VERY water soluble and can be removed if you know what to do. By the late 1920's/early 1930's people started using more industrial type "glue" to adhere things and often this glue is almost impossible to remove using simple water, normally some other type of solvent is necessary (if at all possible). Elmer's Glue for example is NOT water soluble in any way.

Rhett,

I might be misreading the above, but I know up to the early 1950's you can soak cards to remove paste/glue stuck to the backs of cards and I have done so successfully (recently with some 1939 Playballs). After the early 1950's, it almost assuredly will not work.

If you meant that up to the 1930's, you could remove the items without leaving a stain/mark from the paste, that might be true and I apologize if I misunderstood.

[rhettyeakley]

Originally Posted by tschock

Rhett,

I might be misreading the above, but I know up to the early 1950's you can soak cards to remove paste/glue stuck to the backs of cards and I have done so successfully (recently with some 1939 Playballs). After the early 1950's, it almost assuredly will not work.

If you meant that up to the 1930's, you could remove the items without leaving a stain/mark from the paste, that might be true and I apologize if I misunderstood.

It just 100% depends on the type of glue/paste used. If they used water soluble glue/paste to adhere the cards they should be removable BUT by the 1930's the non-water soluble glue was more widely available and that becomes the norm vs the exception.