Removing T205 and T206 from scrapbook

[ahmanfan]

Apologies in advance as I know this topic has been discussed before but I could not get a very recent thread on this and thought there may be some new techniques people have used. I recently acquired these cards locally that had been glued into a vintage scrapbook and some have been removed resulting in a ton of paper loss but some were merely cut out of the scrapbook with the paper left on the back of the card from the scrapbook page. In fact a good number of these are back to back so the cards were glued in opposite sides of the same page so they are two cards with a piece of scrapbook paper in between them. I know there have been some methods in the past of folks soaking these cards to potentially remove the scrapbook paper and I was wondering if there may be a solution similar to that that I could attempt. I will include a couple of photos showing what exactly I’m talking about. Thank you in advance for reading my message and any guidance you may provide.

[ahmanfan]

Hopefully this makes sense- Smith is glued to Jennings and Konetchy is glued to Tinker.

[ahmanfan]

Front side

[t206hound]

Originally Posted by ahmanfan

I know there have been some methods in the past of folks soaking these cards to potentially remove the scrapbook paper and I was wondering if there may be a solution similar to that that I could attempt. I will include a couple of photos showing what exactly I’m talking about. Thank you in advance for reading my message and any guidance you may provide.

I’ve done my fair share of soaking. I suggest whenever you have multiple samples, start with the least valuable. I’ve always just use a shallow dish (with a few inches clearance for the card on each side), hot water and patience. I place tweezers or something similar on the cards so they don’t move around in the dish. I generally replace the water at about 10 minutes and check the state of the cards. Try to resist the temptation of forcing/pulling. After 30 minutes you should have an indication of how well this will work. If things went well, the cards should have come apart on their own. After they are out of the water, place between a few layers of paper towels and put inside the cover of a heavy book. Stick some weight on it and wait 24 hours to dry.

[ahmanfan]

Originally Posted by t206hound

I’ve done my fair share of soaking. I suggest whenever you have multiple samples, start with the least valuable. I’ve always just use a shallow dish (with a few inches clearance for the card on each side), hot water and patience. I place tweezers or something similar on the cards so they don’t move around in the dish. I generally replace the water at about 10 minutes and check the state of the cards. Try to resist the temptation of forcing/pulling. After 30 minutes you should have an indication of how well this will work. If things went well, the cards should have come apart on their own. After they are out of the water, place between a few layers of paper towels and put inside the cover of a heavy book. Stick some weight on it and wait 24 hours to dry.

Thank you for the reply. Stupid question- will the cards have water damage? Will SGC slab them as Authentic-Altered?

[ullmandds]

if u do it correctly it will be indiscernible.

[FrankWakefield]

Having soaked quite a bit...


The T206s will easily soak overnight, or for a few days. Safely, unless there's water soluble ink on some paper underneath or somewhere that will bleed color onto a card, which seems unlikely, based on your pictures.

Go to the store, find distilled water on the shelf, then leave without it. Tap water will be fine.

I wholeheartedly agree with least expensive/desired first. I'd get a clear glass (think of a glass that would hold bourbon) and run room temperature tap water into it. Set it to one side. I'd then run tap water onto a pair of cards, then I'd dip it into the glass. Watch it for a few minutes, then leave it... give it time. The watching is to diminish your anxiety about it.

I've talked with old collectors who'd advertise in a city paper that they'd be at a certain Holliday Inn, room number such-n-such, buying old baseball cards. Among acquisitions would be scrapbooks. These guys would tear out the pages of cards, place them in the bathtub, add water, and let them soak overnight.

Soaking will work on flour, paste, and water based stuff. If it's not that stuff holding the cards in, then you maybe repost and we can discuss nonpolar solvents, and that's a whole new ballgame.

What's said above about not pulling or tugging at stuff is absolutely sound advice.

Warm/hot water is fine, quicker, and good, if you're sure you don't have water soluble ink on paper underneath. But I think your learning curve will be better if you use tap water for your first few attempts.

Give some thought to what you do with wet cards. I'd lay them on a dishcloth, fold the cloth over so there's cloth on both sides of the cards, and stack a few books on that, let it sit for 15 to 20 to 30 minutes or so. Then, move the cards so that they're sandwiched between blotting paper, typing paper, or some such. Maybe look at how the cards are doing after a few hours and maybe change the paper. Don't mash the cards so they are half their normal thickness... we aren't mashing water out, we're imposing some weight just so the cards dry flat. If cards turn out wavy or wrinkled, soak again and use a bit more weight on that last step.

As long as you don't rush this, or pull and tug at them because they look like they're ready to release, then you can't really screw it up.

Email me if you want if you have questions, concerns, or need help.

[ahmanfan]

Originally Posted by FrankWakefield

Having soaked quite a bit...


The T206s will easily soak overnight, or for a few days. Safely, unless there's water soluble ink on some paper underneath or somewhere that will bleed color onto a card, which seems unlikely, based on your pictures.

Go to the store, find distilled water on the shelf, then leave without it. Tap water will be fine.

I wholeheartedly agree with least expensive/desired first. I'd get a clear glass (think of a glass that would hold bourbon) and run room temperature tap water into it. Set it to one side. I'd then run tap water onto a pair of cards, then I'd dip it into the glass. Watch it for a few minutes, then leave it... give it time. The watching is to diminish your anxiety about it.

I've talked with old collectors who'd advertise in a city paper that they'd be at a certain Holliday Inn, room number such-n-such, buying old baseball cards. Among acquisitions would be scrapbooks. These guys would tear out the pages of cards, place them in the bathtub, add water, and let them soak overnight.

Soaking will work on flour, paste, and water based stuff. If it's not that stuff holding the cards in, then you maybe repost and we can discuss nonpolar solvents, and that's a whole new ballgame.

What's said above about not pulling or tugging at stuff is absolutely sound advice.

Warm/hot water is fine, quicker, and good, if you're sure you don't have water soluble ink on paper underneath. But I think your learning curve will be better if you use tap water for your first few attempts.

Give some thought to what you do with wet cards. I'd lay them on a dishcloth, fold the cloth over so there's cloth on both sides of the cards, and stack a few books on that, let it sit for 15 to 20 to 30 minutes or so. Then, move the cards so that they're sandwiched between blotting paper, typing paper, or some such. Maybe look at how the cards are doing after a few hours and maybe change the paper. Don't mash the cards so they are half their normal thickness... we aren't mashing water out, we're imposing some weight just so the cards dry flat. If cards turn out wavy or wrinkled, soak again and use a bit more weight on that last step.

As long as you don't rush this, or pull and tug at them because they look like they're ready to release, then you can't really screw it up.

Email me if you want if you have questions, concerns, or need help.

Wow. Thank you for the very detailed reply. I’m going to try with some of the commons first and see the results. I’ll report back!

[ahmanfan]

Hi, I wanted to post a reply to this thread since everyone was so kind to give me suggestions.

The great news is the cards that I soaked came off the pages (mostly) absolutely beautifully! The bad news is the seller had already ripped the Cobb and Demmitt short print off the page. Wish he would have let me soak it off. Oh well, still obviously pleased with the pickup. Here are some of the cards.


(favorite of the bunch)








(came off the backing nicely)

[jcmtiger]

Nice, good job..joe

[ahmanfan]

I’m getting quite a few PM’s. None of the cards are for sale at the moment. Thanks

[ahmanfan]

I wanted to post an update as I received the stars back from SGC. Thanks for everyone on this thread for assisting with info about soaking the cards off, otherwise I would have had much worse luck with them!
Obviously expected 1's on most. Was hoping for a 2 or 2.5 on Mathewson, think they were a bit tough on it. But overall happy.

[parkplace33]

The Mathewson is a stunner!

[FrankWakefield]

Thank you for posting those results and scans.


Congratulations!

[Leon]

Great looking cards. Way to go!
.

[ahmanfan]

Thanks Leon, and everyone else. Very happy with how the cards came off. Slightly less pleased with the tough grader on the Mathewson but in lower grade I would think eye appeal wins out a bit so not a big deal.