The reason it makes the holo shinier is because a thin layer is removed. Same thing as polishing a ring or a coin to make it more shiny. That way you can actually remove or reduce really superficial scratches that don’t go much deeper than the thin layer that is being removed. Deep scratches are a different story, as are print lines, since they presumably are as deep as the holofoil itself afaik.
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Their Instagram is up again.
Edit: Looks like it was never down to begin with, I was simply blocked for calling them out and thought they deleted their page.
As I said, I’ve actually never been able to remove even light scratches on my binder sets. Pokémon cards are not outdoor furniture with multiple layers of lacquer.
Gold rings etc shine with polish due to dirt etc collecting on the surface. My wife uses an ultrasonic cleaner that you submerge the rings in water and it sends sound waves through it. It’s insane how they shine after and no “layers” are removed.
I feel people should at least try it before saying it does x/y/z.
Personally the product is a 5/10 and doesn’t do anything close to what Kurt says it does.
My 2c.
Reported his page and sent his details to PSA/bgs. This kind of activity is illegal given he is essentially defrauding customers once PSA deactivates the cert.
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They have a youtube page stumbled upon them on youtube shorts one morning. They openly show off card cleaning and altering
It would depend what is in the product, but this is correct for substances like PlastX. PlastX works because it contains abrasives, which remove a microscopic layer of the substance in addition to chemicals that improve reflectivity (i.e., shine). If the substance is extremely hard, only the top-level of grime will be buffed away (i.e., this is exactly how toothpaste works; abrasives in the toothpaste brush away surface stains and gunk).
Out of curiosity, I once used PlastX on a WoTC holo and it indeed removed surface scratches. It also made the holo shine in a way that seemed unnatural. If you used too much of it, some of the ink in the card would come off. I imagine that these products are less abrasive than PlastX, but they work on a similar principle and try not to contain chemicals that would be soluble with ink.
There is also a very thin top coating added to the top of cards right as they come off the printer.
It’s what controls how glossy or matte it looks like in the end. If you’ve held a pack fresh wotc card, it really gives a minty feel to the card. I think it’s also why cards that accumulate a certain level of damage end up looking a little dull too.
I think this layer is what ends up being polished (aka damaged) which smooths out scratches to a certain degree. In theory, it should be detectable if you strip away enough of this layer.
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Would the owners of the cards have to contact PSA about their slabs to get the issue resolved or would PSA say “you knowingly knew the cards where being altered and therefore also at fault”?
In order to do that BGS would first need a reliable database of all active cert #’s/pop report 
This thread is very entertaining and I’ve actually learned a few things about the printing process. I can’t wait to see what happens, although this seems like an incredibly small but serious problem that will be investigated and dealt with pretty quickly. Much like the fake PSA cases with a certain Chinese seller last year, it’ll fade away and we’ll talk about “the guy who thought polishing cards would actually be a long-lasting business venture.”
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inb4 “CGC 9.5 Base Set Unlimited Charizard 4/102 Holo ERROR MISSING TOPCOAT”
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It’s been going on for years in the sports world and has become common practise honestly.
PSA is in-between a rock and a hard place with it.
I’m certain many people own cards that have been “altered” to some extent whether polishing or treating it to remove dents (I don’t think polishing is altering as it doesn’t do anything to the card in my experience, it doesn’t actually work).
I imagine PSA taking some form of action now is an attempt to discourage future submission…although imo people will keep doing it and PSA/BGS/cgc will keep authenticating 
due to the money influence factor.
Sounds like you just didnt polish it correctly given the person this thread is about showed a noticeable difference after polishing the cards.
Somehow I have a bit of a problem with PSA deactivating those cards.
Simply because they did graded them and should have found the “altering”
Not detecting anything, nothing wrong I would say.
What about cards going around from way less “greedy” seller. The seller who sell them “cleaned” raw without you knowing?
Those cards might be graded in the future and if they can’t see the “cleaning” now, who says they will in the future?
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Even if they didn’t detect anything during the grading process, there is still video evidence of the cards being altered.
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It makes no sense, if that card was sold, cracked an submitted again it would also be in the pool of graded cards again. So the same card with the same “altering” only having a new cert number.
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Sorry but is his name seriously RocketCollects and these are his practices? Its comical.
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I really like their comparison to Fine Art restoration/cleaning. Endeavors like this are usually hours upon hours of work; choosing period-appropriate hues, matching brush stroke and technique to the artist, sometimes even leaving dirt or debris if there is too high a risk of damage to clean. These jobs are hundreds to thousands of dollars in labor and the piece is then labeled as restored or cleaned on the Pedigree info.
I can’t imagine a world where the compounds or mixtures used as an abrasive/polish can’t be identified in some cost-effective way in the grading process. CGC uses UV imaging and XRF scanners to authenticate ink and printing cuts so if this ends up growing into a larger problem there is no doubt in my mind there will be an inevitable solution.
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When I first started collecting, this is something I really struggled to articulate to sellers. I would ask if they still had their “luster” and “shine” or if they had “dulled” or “lost their gloss”. People found this question inscrutable and confusing. But I feel like you really know it when you see it.
I don’t see it talked about that much.
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That depends. Perhaps they weren’t looking for any foreign substance before. It’s really up to the grading companies to figure out how to deal with this. When we’re talking about cards with the cosmos holo pattern, it’s a lot harder to get away with regrading, as the placement of the pattern is unique to that card.