looking after playing cards

[antthecat]

i thought i would give a piece of advice, copag cards and kem cards are cleanable but if you find a crease in the card then its game over for the deck, dont do what i did last night whilst half asleep, i thought i would iron the crease out, i turned the iron down, put a rag over the card and put the iron on for a second, it shrivveled up really impressively. damm. so just wash them in luke warm water with dove soap and dont iron them(i did think about putting them in the washing machine but mum said no to that one). the girlfriends dishwasher is the next port of call(it cleaned my bike cylinder head a treat)

[kinboshi]

The copag and kem are 100% plastic - so ironing isn"t going to be the solution here!  

Dishwasher is an interesting idea, but I"d make sure they"re on the top shelf as a lot of plastics will melt if they"re on the bottom shelf and close to the element.

Now that your pack is ruined, I think you should experiment with washing machines, dishwashers, soaking them in the bath, bleach, etc., and post images to go with your studies!

[HaworthBantam]

Don"t forget the car wash - auto and hand wash  

[kinboshi]

Good point - I think he needs a list.

[tonyj444]

In my house last year we had several packs of Dal Negros (bought in bulk worked out at about £3 a deck), which for the money I think are very good cards.  These could be cleaned quite easily in hot water and then dried with a tea-towel.  I also had a pack of Kem Arrows, which I assumed (rather foolishly) could also be washed.  Ever since they got wet the feel of the cards has changed dramatically and they are no longer a nice deck to play with, often sticking together.  Has anyone had success in washing Arrows or is it a definite no-go?

[kinboshi]

Kem arrows are 100% plastic (just checked on their site, and it says: "playing cards which are 100% cellulose acetate plastic. Kem plastic playing cards contain no vinyl, which is the raw material used by all other playing card manufacturers for their plastic playing cards."

Wouldn"t have thought that would be a problem though. Maybe try washing them in a weak washing up liquid solution.  It might be that something is on the cards that needs washing off?

[coprey]

Kem cards are great. I have a set of two decks, and dont envisage needing to unwrap the second deck for possibly several years. I managed to get one of the cards soaked with beer or some other drink that got spilled. I dried it thoroughly but the card remained curled a little bit. I placed the card in the middle of the deck and checked it again after a few days and it had returned to normal. I think if someone bent and ruined one of my beautiful Kem cards id be very annoyed. An experiment in what these cards can cope with would be most interesting.

[antthecat]

i noticed the kems were sticky, what you can do is put the deck in talcum powder and that does help. thats why i use copag, they can be washed again and again and still shuffle well and dont lose colour as quick as kem do.

i think i should see how strong these cards are and sneak one in the girlfriends dishwasher(i better not get caught as its her sisters house, i done the cylinder head when her sister was on holiday) cos its a mundane job cleaning playing cards and im a bit lazy, does anyone have an idea how casino"s clean there"s?

they will be "TESTED TILL DESTRUCTION"

[HaworthBantam]

Looking forward to your in depth cleaning investigation, ant  

My personal preference is for Copags as well - I have 9 decks of these cards and have only used 2 in the last 3 years.

1 card in one of the decks has a thumb nail imprint - this thread has reminded me to have a look and see if I can fix it. Best not use an iron though.....  

[Bodddders]

Try this site. http://www.homepokertourney.com/

If you haven"t come across this site before this guy is just a little serious about his poker. (based in Canada).

[antthecat]

ive got a pic to upload but how do i do it? please help

[rubertoe]

I had a crease in a pack of Copaq"s where one of the cars got caught between the rim of the lid!

After a Few Days - Left - in the middle of the deck - it was fine!!

Also I tend to Just wipe them with a damp cloth - seems to be the best way!!

i prefer the Copaq"s to Kem"s and if i remember rightly - Poker player have done a couple of reviews on cards and couldnt really split them - they did all the destruction stuff etc! they also tested a few other cards as well - but for me it is large index Copaqs all the way!

[Swinebag]

ive got a pic to upload but how do i do it? please help

pm"d you

[antthecat]

first test was retreiving the deck from the bin, they survived being soaked in chicken pie and gravy and only took a rinse off to be good as new so dont worry about spilling a bit of food on them, is there any other tests that you want me to do and ill try it(im trying the washing machine sneakily, im leaving a card in one of my jeans pocket) so any other tests are welcome, a suggestion of the car wash may be tested possibly this weekend and pressure washing could be tested also, i doubt these cards are tested like this.

[HaworthBantam]

It"s a service you"re supplying here, Ant, all in the name of science - hat"s off to you