Should I Clean My Sports Cards?
Card cleaning ranges from wiping a dry microfiber cloth to soaking cards in a liquid to smooth out wrinkles and remove stains. There's a spectrum, and while simply wiping dust off a card is encouraged, soaking cards is highly frowned upon by the larger collecting community.
In other words, there are levels to this whole card cleaning business. So, should you clean your cards? The answer's complicated - sort of. For example, where does taking out wax stains with pantyhose lie on the spectrum? No one can say for sure.
The correct answer to the above question is entirely up to you - the collector. They're your cards; you can do what you want with them. No one will fault you for shining up cards in your collection. But there are unwritten rules about what to do with your cards once you put them for sale.
The video below is an example from the most well-known card cleaning and restoration company - Kurt's Card Care.
It's widely agreed that sellers should disclose if they've cleaned their cards. Why? Because doing anything other than wiping cards with a dry cloth is considered card alteration. An altered card will drive down the value of the card because altering a card is regarded as a no-no.
Professional Sports Authenticators (PSA) consider cards they know to have been soaked in a liquid to be altered. It will not authenticate cards it knows have been cleaned with liquids because they can't guarantee the card's condition.
The Hobby has ingrained beliefs that wrinkled and stained cards should stay that way. Taking the imperfections away is frowned upon. But again, why?
It generally boils down to money. Taking a card's wrinkles or straightening its corners for resale can border on fraud. The idea is that a card cleaner/restorer is taking an inferior product, finding a way to hide the blemishes, and selling it as an original. Then there's turning a PSA 3 into a PSA 6. Is it really a PSA 6? And will it stay that way?
What are the long-term impacts of cleaning your cards? It's uncertain for now. There is some evidence that stains can come back, but it's still being determined with which products.
Putting Pledge on a card? That's questionable. Kurt Colone, owner of Kurt's Card Care, hasn't disclosed what's in his products, but he has been on record stating that he spent years developing his formula.
So, should you clean your cards? Card cleaning makes sense if you have cherished items meant to be kept for a long time. But it's recommended that you disclose any card cleaning to a potential buyer. You may take a hit on the sale price, or you may not, but the buyer would appreciate the honesty.
One thing is certain - there are thousands and thousands of cards in the open market that have either been soaked or touched up. Chances are you bought one without knowing. Are you okay with that feeling, or does it make you uneasy? It's complicated - sort of.
