i'm almost afraid to ask...

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 16 Jan 2005, and now archived in the Forum Library.

gypsy	16 Jan 2005
has anyone, while reading in public, had someone spill their coffee or tea all over your cards???

RedMaple	16 Jan 2005
No, but my grandson got raspberry jam all over a couple of cards. Just wiped em off and went on with it. Figure it'll sweeten the deck. ;) I personally like decks to live in the world and age (gracefullly, of course!) Although I did feel myself a little uptight about my Buddha deck -- the first time I've felt very protective of the cards. My grandson was responding to the images, choosing this card and that, and squeezing, folding the Devil card, (very appropriately, as he didn't like it and wanted to crush it). I wanted to protect the card, but finally decided it was better to protect my grandson. :) If I need to I'll get a second deck sometime. But I'm sure the Buddha wouldn't mind.

miss_apples	16 Jan 2005
You should see my Goddess tarot. My friend has spilled grape schnaaps on them. Also once I had them on my bed and my daughter put our guinea pigs close to them on the bed and one of my guinea pigs chewed the corner off of one of the cards. So they are pretty ratted up, but I still read with them and they still give readings with the same accuracy as always...so it all works out :)

WolfSpirit	16 Jan 2005
Well I had myself spill a cup of tea on my Halloween deck :D It happened when I was doing a reading sitting on the floor with a cup of tea beside me. The deck is laminated which probably saved it. I dried all cards with a cloth, it looked like some of the cards would end up with tiny bubbles on them, but even those dried up nicely and now the deck looks like new again.

Kiama	16 Jan 2005
If you ever get a chance to smell my Tarot deck (not sure why you'd want to, but hey!) you'd smell a veritable bouquet of beer, white wine, cider, orange squash, and yet more white wine. Serves me right for reading at pubs and parties. But I like my deck that way. It's lived, it's been loved and used. And it's still in good condition. Deck survival tip - carefully dry it off with a tissue (all cards separately if necessary) and place on radiator to dry if necessary. This may cause slight warping, so when dry, place all warped cards in between reeeeally heavy books for a day or two. When finished, to get rid of the inevitable stickiness from whatever was spilled on them, wipe a little talcom powder on the back and front of each card. Blessings, Kiama

Cielo	16 Jan 2005
See??? This is exactly the reason I so value my Radiant Rider Waite cards which are laminated with a glossy finish,- you just wipe them off (I'm talking sticky kids fingers and all!) and there you go!!! :D This is one of the things I always worry about...what if something was to spill on my cards....urgh....and the one reason I wish more cards came with that glossy finish....hehehehe....

Chronata	16 Jan 2005
oh yes. My original Rider Waite Smith deck has a coffee stain. Or two. And my Sacred Rose tarot has wax stains from when a client upset a candle on my table. Never could get the wax out of the velvet tablecloth.

KatRabbit	17 Jan 2005
I haven't spilt any drinks on my cards. However, I once left them out when I had a bath. My rabbit decided to mark them in his own special way!!! I managed to clean the worst off, but some now have an "antiqued" look to them LOL!

Simone	17 Jan 2005
So far I was lucky (knock, knock on wood) and the only accident that happened were a few drops of water on one of my decks. It did not harm them, I guess I saw it early enough :D I once gave a reading to a woman on her living room table though, and her kid was standing next to her, the boy started to bend some of the fanned-out cards back to see the pictures, and I gently asked him not to do that, again, no harm done :) I like my cards to look handled and used (meaning: I like decks even if they do not look brandnew) but I try to avoid stains if I can :D Love Simone

The i'm almost afraid to ask... thread was originally posted on 16 Jan 2005 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.