[y2hood]

I know collectors of cards from the 1980s and earlier are familiar with the pain of opening a pack, finding a key rookie, only for it to have gum stuck to it. There's advice out there to use pantyhose to clean that off the cardboard stock. But what about glossier, shiny cards from more recent sets? 

I have a side hustle where I clean up old cartridge based video games and systems, so I have a bunch of rubbing alcohol and similar agents at my disposal, but OBVIOUSLY, I'm not putting these chemicals on cards.

While going through my Brees stuff, for a future sub, I realized one of my 07 Treasures cards has what appears to be some sort of rust on the front center and bottom right corner. I was able to get some of the corner junk with a little bit of saliva and my finger, but if anyone has some better tips, please share them here, not just for me but anyone else that happens along here looking for similar advice.

NOTE: I AM NOT LOOKING TO ALTER CARDS FOR DISHONEST GRADES

[jplarson]

Microfiber cloth, the kind you use to clean glasses with, all the way. Also imperative it's never been in the dryer with a dryer sheet either. Take the cloth and nice circular buffing. Works well on my late 90's Finest cards I've submitted for grading.

[y2hood]

I have some, use them for my shiny cards, but mostly for fingerprints. Didn't think it'd work for actual goop.

[jplarson]

Didn't think it'd work for actual goop.

ah I gotcha, missed that part.  For crusty stuff I'll use a little distilled or bottled water (basically not tap water), wet the microfiber cloth a bit, then take it slow and easy trying to wet/wipe off the goop.  Depending how glossy the card is, I might apply a little water directly to the goop first to see if it'll loosen up, then repeat the step above.

[y2hood]

Thanks man. My national treasures are the only cards I pay for quicker grading, those are my "treasures" (groan). I really don't know what happened to this one.

I have a few (also Treasures) from 09 that got slabbed authentic from a few years back after not meeting minimum grade and there's something strange in the case. Looks like tar or something on the card, that I should have caught. Centering, edges, and corners all look sound, so those have to be surface problems also. Going to be slowly busting those in the near future, try cleaning one at a time, resub, and then turn the old flip in. (It's my own quirk to mail the old flips after the fact when I detect a finger print situation). Our grading forum mod, Jeffv has been an amazing resource for grading tips in these threads.