Help!A Question- Cleaning a deck?

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 08 Mar 2002, and now archived in the Forum Library.

purplelady	08 Mar 2002
Kind-of a different question here. It is not really about cleansing a deck of vibes or negative energies or anything. It is about actually CLEANING a deck. Just recently , I realized that the deck I've been using to pull a daily card from may need cleaning. Without thinking much of it, I use hand lotion on my hands every day before I shuffle the deck and pull the card! My hands get really dry. o.k. And I realized the last few days that it seems like the cards aren't as smooth , and they're sticking to each other a bit. So when I fan out the deck on a table , I'm afraid many cards are hidden under others as they aren't fanning as smoothly. My question, can I actually use a damp cloth? A little soap? Then maybe let them dry? Would this even help? I'm actually really afraid to even use a damp cloth as I don't want to ruin the deck. I believe they are laminated (It's the cosmic tribe deck) . Maybe I can do this and then Not use hand lotion anymore until I'm done with the reading! Does anyone know if this is ok for the cards , or will it ruin the deck? thanks-

truthsayer	08 Mar 2002
of course you know this but before putting any elbow grease into cleaning them, make sure that the material the deck is made of can tolerate being wet. is the deck protected by any kind of protective coating? then a just damp cloth like those lysol wipes would work. you wouldn't have to worry about rinsing soap off w/ the wipe b/c they air dry quickly. if the surface of the cards don't have a protected surface that could pose a problem. the wipe might work if you do it quick and used a blow dryer. there are some moldable art gum erasers that you might could try touching to the surface. when i do art i mold the gum to a point and press it against what i want erased and it will pick up microscopic debris--very labor intensive if you've got to do a whole deck. however, it shouldn't damage your cards and that's the main goal here. the gum eraser won't lift color like silly putty but the consistency and how you'd apply it are similar. i think an eraser is around 80 cents. another thought is to take a soft brush or slightly stiff brush and try brushing off some of the dirt and stickiness. maybe one of those cheap basting brushes that cost about $1. i feel like i'm missing something like some kind of dry cleaning method but the source eludes me right now. hope this helps. let me know if you get them clean.

purplelady	08 Mar 2002
Truthsayer, I don't have any moldable art gum erasers or any kind of art supplies like that! But you gave me an idea! How about babywipes!!!LOL , hey , it might work! (my deck can smell like babywipes!). Actually , it's Very subtle. They don't look or seem or even really feel soiled. It's Possible that the deck is just getting a bit worn from daily usage (I admit , I riffle shuffle it every day!). However , I do also think there I may have touched them after I put lotion on my hands to where they don't spread out all slick like a nice new deck. I don't really know the exact finish on them. They feel slightly slick . It's the cosmic tribe deck , so if anyone has that deck they can see what finish it has.

Emily	08 Mar 2002
I wouldn't use baby wipes, they can be oily and might make the problem worse. What about one of the anti-bac sprays, spray a little onto kitchen towel and wipe over the card quickly, then leave for a few minutes. I've done this with book covers, normal card ones, when they've looked a little grimy.

Geenius at Wrok	09 Mar 2002
I don't know how well this advice applies to cards, but the best way to clean a photograph is with a very dilute soap-and-water solution, followed promptly by a water rinse. You can scrub a trouble spot using a soft cloth wetted with the soap solution. I wouldn't actually immerse a card in water, though, unless you'd already tested its durability with a similar, expendable card, such as a joker or logo card (which not all decks include).

The Help!A Question- Cleaning a deck? thread was originally posted on 08 Mar 2002 in the Talking Tarot board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Talking Tarot, or read more archived threads.