How to Look After Playing Cards

Just because you have cracked open a new deck of playing cards, it doesn’t mean you have to throw away your old deck. If you look after playing cards correctly, they can give you a lot more service. It can still be used for several types of practice work, and individual playing cards recycled for gimmick construction.

The biggest tips to help you look after playing cards are:

Wash your hands before you begin to practice.

Wash those eager mits in warm, soapy water; then completely dry your hands with a towel. Make sure your hands are totally clean and dry to prevents the playing cards from absorbing moisture from sweat.

Whenever you are practising, if you feel your hands becoming sweaty; stop and clean and dry them again.

Use Rotation to look after playing cards

During practice sessions, change the top and bottom the cards of the deck. Cut the cards several times during practice. This balances wear through the whole deck.

Let time heal your playing cards

Sometimes it’s best to do nothing at all. Once your deck of cards becomes worn, put it away in a cool dark place for awhile. Don’t worry, this isn’t neglect.. you are allowing the cards to dry out. After a couple of weeks you will find that the deck is much better to handle.

The power of powder to look after playing cards.

A little talc or fanning powder can really help your cards if you find they have lost their ‘glide’ and are sticking together.

Make sure you don’t apply too much. You only need a little, lightly dusting the cards.
Taking care of your working deck isn’t that hard. The most important thing is to make sure your hands are clean. The oil and moisture from your hands is the number one cause of worn out or ‘brown edged’ deck playing cards.

What tips and tricks do you use to make your playing cards last longer. Please leave a comment in the section below.