While playing EDH today I noticed that almost all of the deck's sleeves have little specs of what appears to be mold, all along the bottom. Has anyone else ever had this happen, and if so, what do you think is causing it?
That's not mold, that's collections of dirt, dust, dead skin, and oil. You can simply scrape it off with your fingernail, although it will return over time as you handle the cards.
From my experience these aren't molds (i tried growing them at work and they didn't do much).
They are accumulated fats and dust. This is typically the case when cards are dragged onto greasy tables, especially the plastic kinds.
Sweat, fatty acids, dust get on the table from people, other people play on top of it and plastic is a good adherent surface to picking it up. I have had this situation and I did 2 things to remedy this problem:
1. Clean the sleeves using a soft plastic or nail - just be gentle and it will rub right off.
2. Use a playmat.
I have not had a problem since although sometimes they do reappear but I believe it's from players with greasy/dirty fingers.
At least the card is fine! Good thing you had a plastic on it!
Usually players have the fingers at that spots of the cards when they hold them in hand.
Shuffling and using cards will put small dirt on the cards that will sooner or later clumb in this little peddles.
It happens after some time and you cant avoid it.
You can clean the cards which is recommended, or simply play with them till they are really ugly dirty and buy a fresh one.
I have some i use for drafts that are really REALLY dirty, and during play i clean them when i am bored. Works fine, in a casual level FNM.
In any higher level event, you should use new and/or clean sleeves, as this can easily be "marked" if the dirt is on the backside (and you wont notice until its the card on top).
That's not mold, that's collections of dirt, dust, dead skin, and oil. You can simply scrape it off with your fingernail, although it will return over time as you handle the cards.
Yea, if you check out some of the older cards or cards where people don't use sleeves you'll notice this a lot. Especially on white bordered cards.
I'm relieved to hear the consensus is that it's simply dirt and not mold, but... are you sure? Because it's on like every sleeve in the deck, and it's the same peculiar speckled pattern near the bottom. I wouldn't expect it to be so uniform on all of the sleeves if it was random dirt accumulation.
I do use a playmat, however I also smoke so that does support what Morhpling said.
I am pretty sure its the oils of your skin. and I have it all over all of my cards. I have started scraping it off but its a losing battle. If you play with your deck you'll get it on there.
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They are accumulated fats and dust. This is typically the case when cards are dragged onto greasy tables, especially the plastic kinds.
Sweat, fatty acids, dust get on the table from people, other people play on top of it and plastic is a good adherent surface to picking it up. I have had this situation and I did 2 things to remedy this problem:
1. Clean the sleeves using a soft plastic or nail - just be gentle and it will rub right off.
2. Use a playmat.
I have not had a problem since although sometimes they do reappear but I believe it's from players with greasy/dirty fingers.
At least the card is fine! Good thing you had a plastic on it!
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Shuffling and using cards will put small dirt on the cards that will sooner or later clumb in this little peddles.
It happens after some time and you cant avoid it.
You can clean the cards which is recommended, or simply play with them till they are really ugly dirty and buy a fresh one.
I have some i use for drafts that are really REALLY dirty, and during play i clean them when i am bored. Works fine, in a casual level FNM.
In any higher level event, you should use new and/or clean sleeves, as this can easily be "marked" if the dirt is on the backside (and you wont notice until its the card on top).
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Using a playmat *definitely* helps but make sure to clean it too. Nice soak/squeeze/dry with H2O and Woolite works well for me.
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Yea, if you check out some of the older cards or cards where people don't use sleeves you'll notice this a lot. Especially on white bordered cards.
I do use a playmat, however I also smoke so that does support what Morhpling said.
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