On one of my visits to DJ's, I noticed that some of their house players were digging cards out of baggies with white powder. I asked what that was about and they told me that they used corn startch to keep the cards nice and slick. WHen they brought one of those decks into play, it maade a big mess on the table, so I was reluctant to "try this at home".
But I did. My first thought was to do the corn starch routine and then just wash them off. That wasn't very effective. It was a huge mess and the cards ended up stickier then they were.
Not to be detered I tried another approach and it worked. After dusting the cards, I took a little vacuum to them to get most of the dust off and then wiped them all with a dry towel. This seemed to do the trick. It's a messy, time consuming process, but the results are worth it. Here's a few tips:
1) You don't need too much corn starch, maybe a 1/4 cup in a big baggie.
2) Just put 5 or 10 cards into the bag one at a time and shake it up.
3) Dump the baggy into a strainer to remove the cards.
4) After shaking the cards off the best you can, put them into another clean baggie.
5) When all the cards are dusted, put the deck together loosely and tap them on one end to get some of the excess dust off. Then riffle them a few times to get some more dust off.
6) One by one, vaccuum the front and back using a brush attachment. This will get most of the dust off of them, but because your hands are dusty and the surface you're working on gets dusty, it's impossible to get it perfect at this stage.
7) When all the vacumming is done, take the whole deck into one hand in a towel and bigen wiping them off one at a time and placing them on a clean spot.
This is definately a garage project, as it can get very messy. It probably took me about 60-90 minutes to do the second 2 decks (no water) which is about what it takes to wash them as directed, but then you have to let them dry very thoughoughly.
There was a very slight dust residue left when I shuffled the cards the first few times when we started, but just a few dust specks, nothing that was a problem. The cards felt just like new.
But I did. My first thought was to do the corn starch routine and then just wash them off. That wasn't very effective. It was a huge mess and the cards ended up stickier then they were.
Not to be detered I tried another approach and it worked. After dusting the cards, I took a little vacuum to them to get most of the dust off and then wiped them all with a dry towel. This seemed to do the trick. It's a messy, time consuming process, but the results are worth it. Here's a few tips:
1) You don't need too much corn starch, maybe a 1/4 cup in a big baggie.
2) Just put 5 or 10 cards into the bag one at a time and shake it up.
3) Dump the baggy into a strainer to remove the cards.
4) After shaking the cards off the best you can, put them into another clean baggie.
5) When all the cards are dusted, put the deck together loosely and tap them on one end to get some of the excess dust off. Then riffle them a few times to get some more dust off.
6) One by one, vaccuum the front and back using a brush attachment. This will get most of the dust off of them, but because your hands are dusty and the surface you're working on gets dusty, it's impossible to get it perfect at this stage.
7) When all the vacumming is done, take the whole deck into one hand in a towel and bigen wiping them off one at a time and placing them on a clean spot.
This is definately a garage project, as it can get very messy. It probably took me about 60-90 minutes to do the second 2 decks (no water) which is about what it takes to wash them as directed, but then you have to let them dry very thoughoughly.
There was a very slight dust residue left when I shuffled the cards the first few times when we started, but just a few dust specks, nothing that was a problem. The cards felt just like new.
