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T206CollectorIn anticipation of the big project I described above, I tried it out on 8 T206 cards in my collection with varying degrees of glue, dirt and scrapbook attached to their backs. I am happy to report that the techniques described above worked remarkably well.
One was a Southern Leaguer I had bought, to the back of which someone had glued a newspaper photo of a player. The newspaper photo melted away easily and the glue residue was simly brushed away with a QTip. Voila! A Piedmont reverse I had never seen before emerged. And on another card I had bought with paper on the back, but otherwise crease free and only moderate corner damage, I was able to restore the card to near-pack condition. You can still sort of see where the paper/glue had once been -- the fibers on the back are a bit more tussled where the glue once was -- but I think you would have to know that something had once been there to actually notice. I wonder if that part of the card would look differently under a black light. I also wonder if this card can now be graded, if it will come back as altered or tampered with or some such. Nonetheless, it's a beautifully clean card now.
Thanks so much to all the advice on this board.