Could someone explain the "soaking" process ?

[insidethewrapper]

Could someone explain the "soaking" process completely? It sounds like you put a card in water, is that true ? I can't believe the card wouldn't soak up the water and be ruined , waterlogged and wrinkled. When is it useful to "soak" ? Thanks for the help.

[Leon]

Yeap, throw a card in water (or your preference). Let it soak, take it out and let it dry or dry it. I have done it in warm water many times. The cards dry.

[irv]

Originally Posted by insidethewrapper

Could someone explain the "soaking" process completely? It sounds like you put a card in water, is that true ? I can't believe the card wouldn't soak up the water and be ruined , waterlogged and wrinkled. When is it useful to "soak" ? Thanks for the help.

Originally Posted by Leon

Yeap, throw a card in water (or your preference). Let it soak, take it out and let it dry or dry it. I have done it in warm water many times. The cards dry.

Wondered about this, and other "cleaning" things I have read on here and had the same concerns as the OP.

How long do you let it soak, is the purpose of soaking just to clean them, does it get wrinkles out? I have no idea why this is done?

[trdcrdkid]

Originally Posted by irv

Wondered about this, and other "cleaning" things I have read on here and had the same concerns as the OP.

How long do you let it soak, is the purpose of soaking just to clean them, does it get wrinkles out? I have no idea why this is done?

The purpose is usually to get paper and glue off the back of the card, which is common in old cards that were often pasted in albums. Most of the glues used back then were water-soluble, which makes soaking relatively easy, but sometimes you find a glue that's tougher. You never know which is the case until you actually soak it.

[irv]

Originally Posted by trdcrdkid

It's best to press it between two flat surfaces with something heavy on top while it's drying, which takes several days. Here is a post I wrote last year that details the process I've used for successfully soaking cards over the past 20+ years:

http://www.net54baseball.com/showpos...70&postcount=7

Originally Posted by trdcrdkid

The purpose is usually to get paper and glue off the back of the card, which is common in old cards that were often pasted in albums. Most of the glues used back then were water-soluble, which makes soaking relatively easy, but sometimes you find a glue that's tougher. You never know which is the case until you actually soak it.

Thanks guys, appreciate the info. My 52's are pretty "clean" with no tape or glue marks on the back or fronts so I think I will just bypass this process altogether.

Also, don't know if you can answer, but what exactly is "Shilling" Read that more than once in a few threads/posts so thought I'd ask here while you guys were explaining some things for me.

Thanks......Irv

[1952boyntoncollector]

Originally Posted by irv

Thanks guys, appreciate the info. My 52's are pretty "clean" with no tape or glue marks on the back or fronts so I think I will just bypass this process altogether.

Also, don't know if you can answer, but what exactly is "Shilling" Read that more than once in a few threads/posts so thought I'd ask here while you guys were explaining some things for me.

Thanks......Irv

Shilling is when a seller at an auction bids on his own item or has someone on his behalf do it to basically create a hidden reserve so they can bid the card up to an amount that if real bidder wants the card that bidder would have to bid over that amount....the fake bidding also creates an impression that there are other bidders out there on the card as underbiddiers creating artificial value..

if you win a card for 1200 and the bid under you was 1120...you believe at least a bit that if you were to sell the card next week you would get close to 1120 at least...but if that 1120 bidder was just the seller of the original card then that creates false value..and maybe the card now sells for 700...unless you shill the card on your own and fake someone else out to pay more...

[trdcrdkid]

It's best to press it between two flat surfaces with something heavy on top while it's drying, which takes several days. Here is a post I wrote last year that details the process I've used for successfully soaking cards over the past 20+ years:

http://www.net54baseball.com/showpos...70&postcount=7

[ls7plus]

Originally Posted by trdcrdkid

It's best to press it between two flat surfaces with something heavy on top while it's drying, which takes several days. Here is a post I wrote last year that details the process I've used for successfully soaking cards over the past 20+ years:

http://www.net54baseball.com/showpos...70&postcount=7

Thanks David. I printed out your previous post and believe it will be very helpful.

Sincerely,

Larry

[kmac32]

Originally Posted by insidethewrapper

Could someone explain the "soaking" process completely? It sounds like you put a card in water, is that true ? I can't believe the card wouldn't soak up the water and be ruined , waterlogged and wrinkled. When is it useful to "soak" ? Thanks for the help.

It sounds counter intuitive but in general it works well. If you have a card with scrapbook residue and has most likely been glued with pre 1940 glue, you completely submerge the card in luke warm water and the glue loosens allowing the scrapbook residue to be removed. Keep in mind that you only leave it in long enough for the paper to be removed and the glue to dissolve. After doing so, pat dry with paper towels and the place in paper towels in a book to keep the card from wrinkling and remove excess water. You should periodically change the towels for a couple of days until the card is dry.

With all this said, not all cards soak well. I soaked a T205 yesterday and it did well but I did find that the ink on the back was more fragile than other cards that I have soaked in my limited experience. So far I have soaked W572 strip cards, 1929 exhibit postcards, and now T205 with great success. Pick and choose your cards and start with a beater if you do it. It is not all that difficult to do and the results can be very rewarding. There was a big thread on soaking in the not too far past.

[kmac32]

End result. Card still drying.

[kmac32]

Card when dry

[LuckyLarry]

Of course not all "soaks" are totally successful. I'll share my most difficult soak ever, as I tried to rescue a 1971 Topps #156 Terry Bradshaw RC a couple years ago. This is the most expensive card in the '71 Topps football set, and "books" for $200 in NM shape.
Here's what I started with:


Terry gets "tossed" in the sink, hot water:



I had to break out a more "advanced" tool, a safety pin to get things going:



Post "soak" advanced tool still in use. But the back didn't clean up that well:



Terry is between the paper towels:



Terry joins his buddies:



Larry