There are ways to make a good card look even better and more attractive to bidders. Doing so can elevate an ordinary card to supercard status and become the subject of a bidding war that turns a card that cost you pennies into a three-figure multi-bid item on eBay. But you have to be very careful when cleaning these breakable items or you could eliminate all resale potential.
* Postcards often become dirty when the margins have been exposed by the sides of a stack or album containing the cards. It is very common to see a very clean postcard with a dirty margin, the margin being the only part of the item exposed to daily hazards such as dust, dirt, water, sunlight. Most of the dust can be removed with a soft rubber or a piece of dry bread.
Use a large rubber band or a large piece of bread to prevent your fingers from touching the card and your fingernails from scratching or tearing the delicate paper. Hold the card very carefully on both corners closest to the dusty margin and don’t rub it too hard or the friction will cause the paper to wrinkle and wrinkle.
With an eraser or bread between the thumb and finger of your other hand, gently rub in one direction over the dusty area. Do not use back and forth strokes directly on the card, this will cause the material to tear or thin. If the dust doesn’t move, leave it alone, too much rubbing will damage the surface and affect the image and make it useless.
*Real photographic postcards are often found to be dirty or covered in fingerprints and are the easiest to clean. Real photographic postcards also wrinkle quite easily, which is usually not a problem, except when dirt gets caught in the folds and makes the condition appear worse than it actually is. Again holding the card on a hard surface, with the index and thumb of one hand keeping it slightly stretched, make gentle strokes in one direction over the soiled areas with a damp kitchen towel or facial tissue.
Stroke lightly, don’t rub or you’ll leave marks and you might even scratch the card or gouge part of the surface. Lanolin-based baby and facial tissues are especially soft for photo postcards and you can apply a little extra pressure along the line of a dirt-encrusted fold. Do not rub against a crease line or the card will disintegrate. Don’t expect to remove all the dirt, these items are very old and fragile, rubbing too much will cause damage and reduce the value of the card.
*Most cards, with the exception of a few printed and most actual photographic types, were printed on layers of paper and not actually made with any card. The top of usually three layers is the image part, the bottom is the address part, usually with an extra layer in the middle for support.
The layers often separate at the edges, sometimes completely separate, usually from moisture. It’s difficult, almost impossible, to glue back layers that have completely fallen apart, it takes time and skill, and the result is rarely worth it on ordinary card.
Most household glues are thicker than those used to create the original card, giving the finished card a lumpy appearance that also looks and feels too thick. Where the layers are split at the corners and the body of the card remains intact, you can easily apply a bead of glue between each layer, smooth it out with the nozzle on the glue bottle, then place the card on a hard, flat surface and smooth it out. gently. repairs with light blows with a clean finger. The short stroke of the margins or the glue may seep through and your card will stick to the surface and be impossible to remove.
