Soaking (water only) - 1915 Cracker Jack?

[Snowman]

Someone has already tried to clean that card, just FYI.

As far as soaking them in distilled water is concerned, it won't damage them at all. 15 CJs soak just fine. Use warm water for better results. Put it in an ultrasonic cleaner filled with the warm distilled water for even better results, if you want. Be very careful though with a qtip on the back while it's wet. Wet paper is very vulnerable. Any amount of abrasion while it's wet will result in surface damage/loss.

[Belfast1933]

Originally Posted by Snowman

Someone has already tried to clean that card, just FYI.

As far as soaking them in distilled water is concerned, it won't damage them at all. 15 CJs soak just fine. Use warm water for better results. Put it in an ultrasonic cleaner filled with the warm distilled water for even better results, if you want. Be very careful though with a qtip on the back while it's wet. Wet paper is very vulnerable. Any amount of abrasion while it's wet will result in surface damage/loss.

Thx for the technique tips… and how can you tell someone already tried to clean this one? Just curious what you see.

[samosa4u]

Nice card, but the back has been damaged (paper loss) and I see no point in soaking it.

[FrankWakefield]

You guys have differing vantage points on this. One wants to get rid of some of the dirt, another thinks don't soak because it won't increase the value of the card.

Soak the card.

Truth is that any of us who have 1914 or 1915 Cracker Jack cards most likely have ones that were soaked. The old collectors would advertise in city newspapers that they'd be at such and such motel or hotel on such and such weekend buying old baseball cards. I've spoken in person with several that did that. People would come to the hotel room listed in the ad with all kinds of cards. Many would be pasted down in scrapbooks from years ago. The collectors would tear the pages out of the scrapbook, lay the sheets in the bathtub, then run water into the tub. Overnight the cards would loosen and float off. If any of you have a CJ with great corners, the corners were probably spared corner dings because they were on a scrapbook page for 40 or 50 years.

Cracker Jacks soak wonderfully well. Some don'ts: Don't soak for a week or two (long soaks would lead to a bit of fading), overnight should be enough. Don't soak if there's water soluble pen ink on the card, it will bleed and spread on the card you're soaking (quickly blotting could minimize that). Don't go scrubbing on CJ paper, they are fragile, especially the 14's (T206s are on sturdier paper and can survive that better).

Cracker Jack cards soak very well indeed. And if you want less dirt on the card, go for it! You're not working on a surviving copy of the Declaration of Independence. Most of the CJs that survive today were soaked before many of us were born.

THAT Collins card looks like it has a dirty scuff on the back, as if it fell to the floor and was stepped upon. Ground in dirt might not loosen and release from the paper. Some dirt might. A soak won't hurt that card, and it may well get rid of some of the dirt. What Doc Ulman and AK said in their posts above is absolutely correct. If you want to take a shot and getting rid of some dirt, soak that card.

[Peter_Spaeth]

I would leave well enough alone. You're going to do more harm than good.

[FrankWakefield]

Peter, how many times have you soaked an E145?

[Peter_Spaeth]

The OP appears to have no experience soaking any card at all. Does he even know how to prevent cards from warping? A Cj of a hall of famer does not sound to me like a wise place to start just to get a little dirt out, possibly. I am not questioning your thoughts, as an expert, on soaking CJs generally.