So I just got back into magic and over the years I have gone through phases where I was in them out blag blah. So I keep cards separate for my favorites collection and I always buy playsets of foil variants of the cards I like try to get as close to perfect as possible. So I probably have like 1000 + foil cards. When I recently went to grab my binders out of the closet I noticed some curling and immediately set out to research. Come to find out how sensitive they are and everything. I mostly use dragonshield or sometimes just keep the sleeves on they are shipped to me in if they aren't pennies. So I did some research changed out some easy ones to kmc perfect fit and double sleeved them. But what can I do about the older ones? I tried to take one out of the dragonshield without damaging it to no avail. What is the best way to get cards out of dragonshield protectors without damaging the foil? Also is there anything I can do to straighten some out? Maybe those oversized plastic protectors? Please help its bugging the shot out of me. Most of them aren't too bad but I took so much time and money to collect near perfect cards so this curling blemish bugs me
Lovely isn't it? What's worse? Your foils curling or my Unlimited/Revised Dual Lands and basically every white border I own turning yellow? Don't answer that because it sucks either way. I have curled foils as well but I've done little to them other than manage the damage, not mitigate. Not all anyways. This is largely because I don't play with foils if I can. They're not my cup of tea.
Let's get into it, shall we? Before you read further, please understand I've only tried some but not all of the ideas here. They're based on my experience around archivists (I wasn't one) and my own experiments. Always test with a small number of "disposable" cards and proceed carefully.
I tried to take one out of the dragonshield without damaging it to no avail.
I'm not sure I understand. What do you mean? What kind of damage? The foils should not be sticking to the plastic.
Depending on why they're stuck inside the sleeves, the most drastic measure I had to employ was to gently bend the card (they won't crease, I promise) just enough to get a thin pair of scissors in there to cut the plastic. If they're curling across the width, the pocket should already be there. Don't cut all the way down, that won't work. I use what are called "Stork Scissors". I stole them from my spouse after I bought them from Michaels or JoAans.
Moving along.
Point #1: If the card curls towards the face, I assume it's too much moisture in the card. If the curl is towards the back, it's too little. I've never seen the cards curl backwards so everything assumes excess moisture.
Point #2: I'm worried about cracking the foils. My understanding is it's a very thin layer of metal on plastic, likely aluminum. The plastic can stretch, the metal cannot. I have "stretchable" "metal" plastics but none have the sheen and I don't know if the tech exists yet. However, I have not seen anybody complaint about cracked foils so.....
If the cards have excessive curl, then it might help to draw the moisture out. There are a couple of things to try.
- You can press the cards between the pages of the biggest book you own. The weight of the book will flatten the cards and the pages will gradually draw the moisture out. People have been flattening and drying faeries flowers for hundreds of years this way. Be mindful the acid in the paper used in some books can damage the card. If the pages are brown well... you can't flush it down. Archival safe buffering paper might help. Look for it at Michaels. In addition, you can't process a bunch of cards this way. I have had fantastic success recovering both plain and foil cards from MtG and Pokémon that had water spilled on them. The damage is unnoticeable and I need a loupe to see it. It took about a week to "cure" them with daily changes moving the cards to fresh pages.
- Pack the cards in a box by alternating the cards back to back with non-foil pack-fresh flat cards like thus )||(. Never ever pack them with the curl facing the same way. The idea is to cancel the curl. Minimize the space by filling the box up with cards. Store the cards in the box. Over time, the fresh cards should draw enough moisture out to flatten them out. I use penny sleeves in order to pack 2-3 cards per sleeve.
- Pack the cards into a box with silica packets. I would absolutely love to get my hands on something like these Art Sorb Silica Sheets that almost seem tailor made for this. But those are nuts expensive. As such, I've save silica packs (Orbeez works too) and pack them with the cards in a box.
- I have not personally tried this but I have heard from others that say they have. Lay the cards out in a small room like a closet with a dehumidifier. You want to use a closet that no one really uses, like a guest room. And where you can seal the cracks with something like towels. I imagine a cabinet where air can circulate inside will do the trick as well. IKEA has a weird cabinet where the shelves inside don't quite reach all the way to the front or back (your choice). Dumbest design but they would ironically be perfect here. Again, NO HEAT!!
Some closing notes.
- Don't try to use heat to draw moisture out. Just don't do it. Ever. Picking your teeth with a Black Lotus is just as dumb.
- Don't try to cheat the process. Patience is king. Set them up and forget about them for a while.
- Don't store them in a sealed plastic/glass/metal box. A paper box creates a suitable environment that can breath. I forget the exact formula for RH but the box "averages" wild swings in humidity outside the box.
- Change out the absorption media every now and then.
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Lovely isn't it? What's worse? Your foils curling or my Unlimited/Revised Dual Lands and basically every white border I own turning yellow? Don't answer that because it sucks either way. I have curled foils as well but I've done little to them other than manage the damage, not mitigate. Not all anyways. This is largely because I don't play with foils if I can. They're not my cup of tea.
Let's get into it, shall we? Before you read further, please understand I've only tried some but not all of the ideas here. They're based on my experience around archivists (I wasn't one) and my own experiments. Always test with a small number of "disposable" cards and proceed carefully.
I'm not sure I understand. What do you mean? What kind of damage? The foils should not be sticking to the plastic.
Depending on why they're stuck inside the sleeves, the most drastic measure I had to employ was to gently bend the card (they won't crease, I promise) just enough to get a thin pair of scissors in there to cut the plastic. If they're curling across the width, the pocket should already be there. Don't cut all the way down, that won't work. I use what are called "Stork Scissors". I stole them from my spouse after I bought them from Michaels or JoAans.
Moving along.
Point #1: If the card curls towards the face, I assume it's too much moisture in the card. If the curl is towards the back, it's too little. I've never seen the cards curl backwards so everything assumes excess moisture.
Point #2: I'm worried about cracking the foils. My understanding is it's a very thin layer of metal on plastic, likely aluminum. The plastic can stretch, the metal cannot. I have "stretchable" "metal" plastics but none have the sheen and I don't know if the tech exists yet. However, I have not seen anybody complaint about cracked foils so.....
If the cards have excessive curl, then it might help to draw the moisture out. There are a couple of things to try.
- You can press the cards between the pages of the biggest book you own. The weight of the book will flatten the cards and the pages will gradually draw the moisture out. People have been flattening and drying
faeriesflowers for hundreds of years this way. Be mindful the acid in the paper used in some books can damage the card. If the pages are brown well... you can't flush it down. Archival safe buffering paper might help. Look for it at Michaels. In addition, you can't process a bunch of cards this way. I have had fantastic success recovering both plain and foil cards from MtG and Pokémon that had water spilled on them. The damage is unnoticeable and I need a loupe to see it. It took about a week to "cure" them with daily changes moving the cards to fresh pages.- Pack the cards in a box by alternating the cards back to back with non-foil pack-fresh flat cards like thus )||(. Never ever pack them with the curl facing the same way. The idea is to cancel the curl. Minimize the space by filling the box up with cards. Store the cards in the box. Over time, the fresh cards should draw enough moisture out to flatten them out. I use penny sleeves in order to pack 2-3 cards per sleeve.
- Pack the cards into a box with silica packets. I would absolutely love to get my hands on something like these Art Sorb Silica Sheets that almost seem tailor made for this. But those are nuts expensive. As such, I've save silica packs (Orbeez works too) and pack them with the cards in a box.
- I have not personally tried this but I have heard from others that say they have. Lay the cards out in a small room like a closet with a dehumidifier. You want to use a closet that no one really uses, like a guest room. And where you can seal the cracks with something like towels. I imagine a cabinet where air can circulate inside will do the trick as well. IKEA has a weird cabinet where the shelves inside don't quite reach all the way to the front or back (your choice). Dumbest design but they would ironically be perfect here. Again, NO HEAT!!
Some closing notes.
- Don't try to use heat to draw moisture out. Just don't do it. Ever. Picking your teeth with a Black Lotus is just as dumb.
- Don't try to cheat the process. Patience is king. Set them up and forget about them for a while.
- Don't store them in a sealed plastic/glass/metal box. A paper box creates a suitable environment that can breath. I forget the exact formula for RH but the box "averages" wild swings in humidity outside the box.
- Change out the absorption media every now and then.