Care for Playing Cards
People always seem to have a few cards, or in some cases a few decks, that have been poorly taken care of. The cards become flimsy and the box gets all torn up. Here are a few tips to keeping them in shape.
Contents
Steps
Choosing playing cards
- Know what to buy. Do not get the brand Royal. They fade extremely fast. These are the best cards (in the order of best to worst): Bicycle, Tally Ho, Accro, and Aviators. Bicycle is the most popular playing card.
Keeping cards in good condition
- Don't bend your cards. You really have to care for your cards if you want them to stay good for a long time. Watch the result of when you do a riffle shuffle or a spring. You'll actually notice that your card is starting to bend.
- Don't overuse. Know when to replace your cards. Don't use them if they've gotten wet from rain or if you see that the edges are starting to split. These are signs that they are going to fall apart. You might as well replace them now instead of waiting until you have 104 cards instead of 52.
- Yes, Bicycle cards can be used for years. But even they will wear with bad handling.
- Wear in. If you notice, new cards tend to have a sliding attribute. Place a brand new deck out on the table and the top card will slide slightly. This may not seem like a big deal, but when you try to do something like a Charlie or Swivel or some other cut, it will matter. The cards will just slip out most of the time because it hasn't been worn in. You know that it's worn in well when the top card doesn't slide or when you can riffle shuffle comfortably.
- Wash your hands. If you look, whenever you don't wash your hands, they feel kind of sticky. It will get your cards dirty and sticky.
Unsticking cards
- Air the cards. You may notice a while after that your cards get sticky. The best way to unstick them is to take a few cards out of the box first and let them sit for a couple weeks/months. The reason for taking the cards out of the box is to let the cards inside and out air out.
- Cool the cards. The other option you have is to spread the cards in a cool environment and allow them to sit for 24 hours or more, face up for half the time, and face down for the other half. You can also do this by laying the cards individually instead of spreading them.
- Rest the cards. All of this is good, but the best way to get cards back into usable condition is just simply not to do anything with them for extended periods of time.
Tips
- If you are going to carry the cards in the box around, avoid holding the box in your pocket. When it rains and your pants get wet, the box rips up and the card edges get fuzzy.
- You can use a weight to keep the cards flat. Try to stack books on your deck to keep it straight instead of having it all curved and bent.
Warnings
- Don't peel off the seal. When you buy a new deck, more often than not it will have a seal that looks like an Ace of Spades sticker on the side where you open the pack. Don't peal it off. The glue's sticky residue is going to stay there. It's practically irremovable. Instead, neatly cut it on the opening by sliding a blade (or if sharp/long enough, your fingernail) through the slit. It's neater that way.
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