1914 Coupon Soaking

[PrewarCollective]

Originally Posted by RCMcKenzie

Agree with Dave and Rhett. I tried soaking a T213-2 once, and it badly faded the card.

Any ideas on removing cardboard that’s covering the entire back?

[RCMcKenzie]

Originally Posted by PrewarCollective

Any ideas on removing cardboard that’s covering the entire back?

Frank may know a way to do it. Maybe a hairdryer to the back?

I still have the Davis that I soaked. Here it is...

[rhettyeakley]

Originally Posted by RCMcKenzie

Frank may know a way to do it. Maybe a hairdryer to the back?

I still have the Davis that I soaked. Here it is...

Yeah that is exactly the “hazy” look I was talking about. It will forever be milky/hazy as a chemical reaction has changed the gloss on front.

[Jobu]

Is that Davis the result of a warm/hot water soak or a cold/room temp soak? I wonder if the temperature of the water might have played a role.

[FrankWakefield]

Well, if that hazy look you got after I responded, I feel badly about that.

If what you were removing from the back was a stuck bit of rubber band, then you could maybe put a bit of a nonpolar solvent on the end of a Q-Tip and gently rub to see if it loosened. If you put water only on the back, it will soak through to the coating on the front and cause or exacerbate the haze problem.

Did that Davis card look like that when you got it?

[rhettyeakley]

Originally Posted by FrankWakefield

Well, if that hazy look you got after I responded, I feel badly about that.

If what you were removing from the back was a stuck bit of rubber band, then you could maybe put a bit of a nonpolar solvent on the end of a Q-Tip and gently rub to see if it loosened. If you put water only on the back, it will soak through to the coating on the front and cause or exacerbate the haze problem.

Did that Davis card look like that when you got it?

RCMcKenzie isn’t the original poster of the thread. I don’t beieve they have attempted anything as of yet so don’t feel bad. 😁

[RCMcKenzie]

Bryan, it was hot water. Cold water didn't work. Frank, it was around 8 years ago. I wouldn't soak this issue again, but it's just my opinion.

[rhettyeakley]

If there is a way of removing the thickness of the cardboard slowly from the back side working towards the card without damaging the card itself…that is the way to go. Essentially reducing the cardboard to a thin sheet of paper attached to the back of the card then applying water directly to the back of the card to allow for the paste to be soluble in the water and breaking the bond by turning the solid paste back into a liquid phase would be the way to do it.

This will be very time consuming and difficult for even a trained/experienced restorer but is doable (depending on the paste/glue used)