Question about cleaning Japanese glossy promo cards!

Grading Question
21

No problem. Though for what it’s worth, I think the big three grading companies will grade your glossy 1997 Surfing Pikachus. :slight_smile:

PSA

https://www.psacard.com/auctionprices/tcg-cards/1997-pokemon-japanese-corocoro-comics-promo/surfing-pikachu-glossy/values/525270

CGC

https://www.cgccards.com/population-report/tcg/pokémon/2/promotional/839/corocoro-comic-promo/14526?populationID=516664&page=1

BGS

https://www.beckett.com/grading/set_item_listing_grade?set_id=125790&price_item_id=14779658&item_attr_id=0&final_grade=all&limit=500

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22

Hi Spyder, just throwing in my 2 cents for you and anyone else reading about card cleaning for your own collection, but another thing to consider is that sometimes you may think cleaning has gone well but be unaware of what effect that it may eventually have on the card.

I did a long time ago clean some cards with very, very mild cleaner mixed with water solution and this was fine for years but eventually those (fortunately very cheap) cards have started to deteriorate in ways the uncleaned cards have not!

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23

Yeah imma juat gice it a very like dust off with the kimwips rather than use any chemical

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24

Out of curiosity, in what ways did they start to deteriorate?

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25

Hiya, I cleaned off some of an old cards by using whatever was on some “sensitive baby-wipes” type product wrung out into water. The cards I have cleaned in this manner, using a q-tip, have got a very fine “bubbly” texture in the areas where they’ve been cleaned, almost as if the card is coming away from the backing but on a minute scale. Cards I didn’t bother with are fine! This was many years ago and it’s entirely possible it’s for some other reason, but it is only on the cards I remember cleaning and they’ve all been stored in the same binder.

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26

Interesting. Thanks for sharing!

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27

Thia is a very good and helpful point as i plan to store the cards for a while before i send some in for grading. The chemical solution may have long lasting effects and that mqy not be fixable.

Im glad i asked in this thread and am thankful for all of your guys’ input.

In the end I decided to just use the kim wipes and very gently remove the dust of each surface.

Since i also purchased the glass cleaner i will be using it once in a great while and very very light on my scanners’ glass so that the scans come in clean and dust free. I will make sure to use it on my computer screen as well. Just to tqke out little specs of dust or what have you. 100% water wipe afterwards then a dry wipe to clean off remaining chemical as to not endager the cards surface once it makes contact with the scan glass.

I also bought a bunch of jet black paper i use in the background of the scans to ensure whitening can be seen easier on cards to save money on grading in the future.

Well, im qbout spent for this month. About 900$ used in this project thus far.

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