The Wildwood & Shuffling Stubborn Decks

I'm in the Tarot of the Sidhe and Mary-el camp as well... they're just so darn sticky. Love both of these decks but use them far less often because of it. Thankfully the new Schiffer cardstock shuffles beautifully. The Wildwood cardstock is another I love to hate as it's so cardboardy and fragile. I also trimmed, then edged my copy with a slightly metallic, green ink pad which has made a huge difference. The edges feel less fragile and it's much easier to handle.

Might be worth googling "breaking in drills" for playing cards. Have seen lots of these pop up for a price on magic (the rabbit/hat variety) supply websites, but sure there's some advice out there for free. If there's one bunch that know how to make their cards behave, it's close-up magicians!

I can usually manage to shuffle them but Tarot Affirmations is awful. I am hoping the Wildwood gets better. I do split them in half and do it that way if I can. Tarot Affirmations is over-sized and like stiff and plastick-y.

I can't shuffle overhand (must take coordination or something).

Oh my goodness, I left for a day or two and came back to tons of replies-- thank you guys! I've never heard of fanning powder, I will definitely look into it. I'm also trying to shuffle, shuffle, shuffle just as I watch shows on TV to attempt in breaking them in.

Thank you guys for all the suggestions!

The Transparent Tarot, absolutely. The cards are actually transparent plastic, because obviously there's no such thing as transparent paper, and they stick like mad. I sometimes think that actual sticky notes would be easier to shuffle, it's that bad.

witchofglass said:

The Transparent Tarot, absolutely. The cards are actually transparent plastic, because obviously there's no such thing as transparent paper, and they stick like mad. I sometimes think that actual sticky notes would be easier to shuffle, it's that bad.

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I have no problems with the Transparent and I always use two decks together. I think there was some clumping of the deck when it first came out of the box, but I immediately and regularly used the double deck from the moment I got it and it shuffles wonderfully for me.

Last night I remembered I needed to shuffle a 1JJ Swiss that is curved. I split that in half and read my Nook while I shuffled it. Then I worked on the Wildwood which was there and I think it improved considerably.

I think it is riffling and bridging maybe. (Yes - I looked it up.) I have small hands but I guess I played a lot of solitaire in my youth.

Magician's fanning powder helps a lot.

rwcarter said:

I have no problems with the Transparent and I always use two decks together. I think there was some clumping of the deck when it first came out of the box, but I immediately and regularly used the double deck from the moment I got it and it shuffles wonderfully for me.

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I'm constantly having problems with mine. Maybe it's the humidity? It was a Christmas gift and western washington in winter is pretty humid (in a miserable cold weather your feet never dry out kind of way).

witchofglass said:

I'm constantly having problems with mine. Maybe it's the humidity? It was a Christmas gift and western washington in winter is pretty humid (in a miserable cold weather your feet never dry out kind of way).

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Quite possible. I'm in Northern California and humidity is the exception here. (Born and raised on the East coast though.)

One other thing that just popped out of my memory is that the cards had a glaze on them when they first came out of the packaging. I took the time to wipe down each card front and back with a soft cloth to remove that glaze. Don't know if you did that or if that plays any part in why you're having shuffling issues and I don't.

Rodney

Checking the obvious just in case... you're both talking about the transparent and not the universal transparent? Have often wondered how the Transparent will shuffle while I'm poised over the buy button.

It's definitely varnishy decks that cause me gyp... my waterproof (plastic) seven stars deck is so delicious it makes even MY shuffling look casino worthy