Cleaning Cards?

[MagicMan]

So I have a question for the community about cleaning Magic cards? Is it possible to clean them without ruining them? If its possible how does one do so? 

I guess I should explain what I mean by cleaning as well.  I'm just curious if its possible to clean the natural grime, fingerprints, etc. that get on your cards from sleeeving and desleeving them etc. etc.

Thanks for everyones input!

[mrsteve]

Pro tip: Don't eat and wash your hands when you're desleeving/touching the cards.

[MagicMan]

Thanks dude, I got that figured! Any other suggestions for the actual cleaning part if its possible?

[erictehfatz0r]

I clean mine by holding a lighter up to the face of the card. The oil from your hands burns at a much lower temperature than the cardboard, so it's completely safe.

Good luck!

[stealth]

lightly damp towel (just with water) and be very gentle.

[theLastGnu]

I clean mine by holding a lighter up to the face of the card. The oil from your hands burns at a much lower temperature than the cardboard, so it's completely safe.

Good luck!

Don't do this, he's trying to get you to burn your cards. Lighters are too hot, I use matches.

[GrandpaBelcher]

I generally just lick the front of the card and wipe it on my pants leg.  If there are any really tough spots, I scrape them with a fingernail.

[MaximumCDawg]

I clean mine by holding a lighter up to the face of the card. The oil from your hands burns at a much lower temperature than the cardboard, so it's completely safe.

Good luck!

Don't do this, he's trying to get you to burn your cards. Lighters are too hot, I use matches.

The trick is to strike the match ON the card, though.  The friction loosens up the material.  If you don't get a good strike the first time, just keep trying.  Don't worry if you get some scratches on the card this way; those are just scratches in the Polyetherureitheiamer coating that WotC puts on the cards.  You're gonna be melting the top layer of that off anyway, with the oil and dirt and stuff you jammed into it.

In the future though, no pizza hands on cards.

I generally just lick the front of the card and wipe it on my pants leg.  If there are any really tough spots, I scrape them with a fingernail.

While an appropriate way to clean small children, you risk bending or creasing your cards if you do this.

(pssst: don't do any of this)

[samurai_socks]

Deleted.

[nataz]

acetone - gets you a very clean white card every single time.

[GrandpaBelcher]

Okay, okay.  Don't lick your cards.  Except in case of emergency.  Or lust.

This site suggests just a little bit of water:  http://www.ehow.com/how_4858815_clean-magic-gathering-cards.html

So does this, though another person suggests using a gummy, art-school type eraser (not like a pencil or pen eraser): http://boardgamegeek.com/thread/258227/how-do-i-clean-magic-cards-before-i-sell

This kid suggests using other Magic cards (which I've done before; it works okay):  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3uEa0tsjOc

This site suggests pantyhose, of all things!  http://www.themanadrain.com/index.php?topic=41358.0

I wouldn't use any kind of solvent (acetone, nail polish remover, alcohol) because it will take the shine off the cards.  The results on the boardgamegeek link look pretty good for water, but be careful not to get too much water on the card.  No droplets, and definitely don't let anything soak in.  Using other Magic cards isn't terrible, and is similar in theory to the pantyhose (scraping with no moisture).  Other cards won't take off any of the really ground-in dirt, but pantyhose might work better.

[Royal Ass.]

I have found the best way to remove specks of dirt and grime off the face of a card is to use spit and and a soft white cotton t-shirt.   You would be surprised how much you can clean up a card using this technique.  If you are concerned about what this might do to the card, practice on a cheap card first.  I think spit is better than water because it has a higher viscosity and is wont soak into the card like water might.   Just make sure your spit is clean.  Don't try this after eating beef jerky or something gross.

[reaperbong]

the best way to clean dirt from white bordered cards is to use a clean white eraser like on a pencil.

[Nefarias]

I've only ever done this with white-bordereds card that got those gross black speckles all along the border, but it worked wonders.

Take a Q-Tip and dampen one end. Then take a paper towel and soak up all excess water; the Q-Tip should be just barely damp. Then just lightly run the Q-Tip along the effected spots and be patient. After a few passes you should notice a pretty significant difference.

[BruiZar]

doubleslleeve cards so you never actually make them dirty in the first place

[Klep]

I've only ever done this with white-bordereds card that got those gross black speckles all along the border, but it worked wonders.

Take a Q-Tip and dampen one end. Then take a paper towel and soak up all excess water; the Q-Tip should be just barely damp. Then just lightly run the Q-Tip along the effected spots and be patient. After a few passes you should notice a pretty significant difference.

I have had some success with the Q-Tip method in the past.

[MaximumCDawg]

The way you guys talk about cleaning with spit and the corner of your shirt makes me wonder how you clean yourselves. 

I guess Magic players are not known for personal hygine, though.

[Norm4eva]

The way you guys talk about cleaning with spit and the corner of your shirt makes me wonder how you clean yourselves.  

I guess Magic players are not known for personal hygine, though.

I clean my cards with a can of Campbell's Chicken Soup and football practice.

Okay relevance edit - I never had to clean any cards, but I did end up *ironing* a bunch of them when I first started playing.  I rode home on my bike with an opened box of Odyssey and during the ride it naturally started raining.  Gah.  So I laid all my cards out to let them dry, but they were all curly.  I was noob, was sad at the loss of 100s of cards, so naturally what do I do?  I fucking iron them.  They were much much flatter after that but the sheen had definitely melted in weird places.  Until recently I still had a Madness deck comprised of ironed Wild Mongrels, Wurms, Rootwallas...

[MagicMan]

Thanks for the legitimate answers everyone, much appreciated. I have recently started double sleeving my cards for multiple reasons including keeping them clean as well as straight. I may try the q-tip method in the near future. Thanks, see some of you at Myriad Games in a lil over a week.

[Cyberpunker]

Baby Wipes?

[BruiZar]

half the suggestions here make me cringe (the other half wasnt serious). Qtips are a bad idea. If you push too hard, it will leave marks on your card. Making the card moist near the corners results in horrible edges. Instead of the darkness of the dirt you will be able to see very easily that the card has been cleaned. Water destroys paper so don't use it. I am not sure if Foil cards are more resistant to it, since the metal layer is printed over the paper, but I know for a fact that normal cards get destroyed by cleaning in such a way. I suggest trying it out with a couple of old revised commons, you´ll see what I mean when you try it.