No, it is not wrong to do as you wish with your property. It's also not wrong to submit them to a 'Profesional grader after you soak them.

I tried the distilled water soaking method on a 1964 Topps Killebrew- which had a large tan stain on the top of the card. Other than the stain it is beautifully centered with nice corners. I first experimented with a few less expensive common cards to make sure I wouldn't ruin the Killebrew. I was surprised but it worked. After a lengthy drying process, the stain is gone. Did I get lucky? I don't know but I'm happy with the results.

What a genius idea, I would be scared to do it myself..but have thousands of junk wax era cards I could practice on...ty for teaching and Merry Christmas...liked and subbed ❤

This is a very interesting and informative video. I luv it. I havent come across anything like this on KZfaq before. Thanks for sharing the results and I hope to see other card maintenance vids. Perhaps, doing a topic on best way to protect or display cards..... top loader, card saver, page binder, screw down, one magnet touch, etc?

There are very few “collectors” left. Everyone in the hobby is in it for the money. It’s all about appreciation and investing. You can say I don’t care about the value all you want but deep down inside most keep cards because you believe it will appreciate. It is with this mindset all these “fix” method exist. There is so much money in the hobby you are crazy if you think majority of high value cards have not been fixed up one way or another.

Nothing wrong at all with returning a card to it’s former glory. People will call it “alteration”…but it’s not. Would washing your car be a vehicle alteration??? Nope.

Putting them between two pieces of toolbox liner works well also, it's absorbs the water and leaves nothing behind. I learned that from kurtscardcare. Keep up the good work 👍

Ive done tbis by accident with a significant card. It got soaked from a spill of lemon water. I had to do the towel and weigh down method. I thought the card was going to be ruined. But to my surprise...it was in great condition after it dried.

If that plank is unfinished, it must have a ruff finish. What is keeping the weight from embedding the card with the ruff edges of the plank. That thin shop towels can't give that much protection especially with a weight on top of that card. I would think you would want to use planks of wood that are sanded down and the wood is smooth.

No way i would do this to my Mantle cards. Even the Sandberg rookie here freaks me out. 😂. Cool video 👍

Im curious to see if they would grade them or if they would notice a difference with it being soaked

it appears that the soaking adds like an orange peel look on the surface ? or was the card already like that ?

I’m about to start soaking cards, if people don’t start buying them. Because they’re gonna be thrown on my back porch soon.

Why shop towels? Those shop towels are abrasive. Not good. The only thing scary about this process is the use of those shop towels. Nothing is more absorbent than a 70/30 blend of a Microfiber towel. Also use a waffle weave microfiber towel even better. The moisture will soak up into the indented towel cut.

When you finished the soak. I see an indentation on the topps card near sandberg's bat knob. It wasn't there when you started the soak.

I read somewhere that you have not lived until you have soaked a Babe Ruth card. Can you imagine submerging one of his cards in water. I would be a wreck!

How bout creases from a ring in a binder?

There's better solution that that. I used eyeglass cleaner in a spray bottle - put 1/4 water and just one drop dish cleaning liquid. I've done this quite a few times. I only keep it submerged for 20 minutes. It's amazing what grime will come off a card. Those who say it's altering a card, it's not. Trimming and coloring a card is altering. If I buy a vintage car I'm gonna wet sand it and wash it, repainting a car is altering it.

Ya the orange peel surface would bother me,i didn't see that befire soaking.My guess only a guess is it would get an authentic grade if submitted.

First time I've seen this done. Would be interesting to break a slab and see if you can improve a grade

Would you know how to remove a very small ink mark on the back of a 1953 topps card?

Hi. So, just some background. I've been collecting since the 1970s. I do have baseball cards of this era, but I am mostly a hockey card guy (a math-based KZfaq breaker in the community). My honest opinion is this is absolutely brutal. It is clearly a form of alteration, just like taking an eraser to an ink stain or a marker to a white corner. Soaking can alter the surface, density, and consistency of the card. If it is disclosed to a potential buyer, it would tank the value of the card, and affect the grade and authenticity, whereby it should be marked with an "A" for alteration. The entire premise of the hobby - and grading - is condition and legitimacy. Equally, cards change hands and endure wear and tear. Anyone can use advanced technology to rehabilitate a card, its corners, its color, its surface, its edges, etc. Then that card is officially altered, like replacing a car engine or its paint so that it is no longer fully antique. If you soak a card, it is no longer the original card. I personally am dead set against this, least of which because it could trigger or legitimize a whole host of disingenuous ways of cheating in the hobby, absent full disclosure or including before and after photos.

In all my Yeats this is the first time I've heard of soaking

The reason soaking gets a bad rap is that some types of cards can be soaked and stretched using pressure. The card can then be trimmed back to normal size

Please tell me where you end up selling these so that I can avoid them. The last thing I want is a soaked card passed off as unaltered for my money.

o-pee-chees were made with a different (thicker) card stock than the regular topps and it's similar to the tiffany stock. Also, you have just contributed some hydration to 40 years of nascent fungus and bacteria. My guess is that with a few months there will be mildew black spots popping up through the white borders to the point they eat through the front of the paper. That water is still trapped in the fibers no matter what you do! Sell it as quick as you can!

Worst way to destroy your cards. Can't believe people put their cards in water...it will destroy the cardboard.😮

On old cardboard it can easily disintegrate some of the fibers and leave bumps on the surface of the card. Unsure this method is useful for anything other than personal collection.

Interesting. Got any ideas for removing ink from a card I ruined as a kid?

You should do this with a couple of damaged Mario Mendoza cards

Are you sure the Topps card has tape residue? It looks like the card was last/flipped in a wax pack. Not wax? If so, easy removal.

NO. ... Pick up a NANO Mister* It's a Card and with that said, it has NO GRAIN DIRECTION. ... It's just Mulch, Cellulose, flattened from tree pulp, natural, so when you soak them, they expand, changing their size. A little nano mister with distilled warm water, maybe a pinch of salt will soften the card after a very light cleaning / buffing. Not all card stock is the same. ... Some thicker and more glossier coated then others. ... So if they expand some, you may get them back from a grader on account that they do not fit into the sized slabs used etc.

Did you ever submit these cards for grading Scg or Cgc? Liked and just sub’d. Thank you for this video I just stumbled on.

So you're altering the card which renders it basically worthless.

Lighten up. It’s his card. He owns it and he do anything he want to.

Great results

Wow never heard of this. Thanks. Im not a cubs fan but love Da Bears

If You Have Any More Cards You Want To Ruin, I'd Really Like Them. Two Sandberg RCs :(

Panty hose would have taken the wax stain on the Topps

I have a 59 Fleer Ted williams card back wax stain can you give me any advice too remove stain

Would this work on modern cards that are have glossy finish?

I soak and clean cards also and was just curious is the residue gum or wax? Do you know? I have used a small amout of Goo Gone to get stuff off and it works well.

Absolute mad lad 😂

❤I don't see the big deal its just water. Besides people that collect cards these days are morons. If they are willing to pay thousands just because a card is graded a 10. Then they shouldn't care about this.

Altered.

I cringed when you first did it, but hard to argue with results. Go Cubs Go. Life-long Cub fan here btw. Subscribed too. Found your channel looking for Chrome Platinum break videos. Nice Ryno you got 1/5! I picked up the Banks 2/5 on Ebay

Mmmmm... 'residue' pattern and appearance on the Topps card looks an awful lot like a wax stain which is much simpler to remove with a dry paper towel... those boards were 'rough sawn' and could leave nasty impressions in the cards... I'd say this is an earnest, 'How NOT to' vid...

Does this work on modern cards to take out dimples or long lined divets ?

I soaked my michael jordan rookie in my own urine and it completely restored it to orginal packaging 😮

I say it's ruined.

Is this the freaking amateur hour! You are altering the card and not in a good way. Honestly asinine. Just look at the surfaces of the cards, they absolutely do not look better as you say, they look just like they have been soaked in water and dried flat. I will take a wild guess and say they grade no higher than a PSA 3 or 4. Please spend the money on theses exact cards and submit to PSA to do a follow up video expressing what a bad idea this is so not to influence others to try this. 🤦🏼‍♂️

If that's wax residue, just use nylons like a woman would wear on her legs or a used dryer sheet.

As a grader i can promise you that this will not pass the test and get instantly rejected.

Oh do you trim as well. Seems a bit shady to me.

Card surface is shot, wavey 😂😂😂

Wow never heard of it

It's like pressing a comic

Underwear ruined if I did this to my Mickey Mantle

Never heard of this before

Nice, I'm gonna do this to my Ruth/Mantle dual cut auto.

Came here for the Mormon jokes. Disappointed 😢

Okay but you've ruined the sheen

Nice I tryd with my Kobe and MJ refractors and pulled off all the coating damaged them thanks tho was looking for reason to leave hobby so glo

Amateur hour. I cannot wait until you send these off

Could have been 3 minutes.

As far as the residue, pantyhose will take off gum stains, otherwise Kurt's card cleaner would take that off. If it was a chap card try acetone will take it off just not sure what else it might affect.

Bleach works best, 2 parts bleach 1 part distilled water.cleans it rite up

Cant even watch what i think is going to be a harmless video about sports cards, without politics being jammed down my throat via a desecration of the American flag. Lose the blue line nazi flag.

This needs to be illegal i know when i started collecting in the 80s any repair to your card was just not allowed and to do it in the open like this really scares me that people may think its ok to screw people over