When the "Umbrae Method" isn't enough...

Well, I'm an "old thing" so maybe she'll love me, too, and excuse my grumbling.

If it gets rid of the pong, I'm all for it. But having to sandpaper a deck and drench it in tea is an awful lot of work to make it useable. (I can see taroists of the future looking back on this bizarre myth and wondering why we thought we had to do it )

I'll just keep the new avoiding USGS decks. But what the HELL are they laminating them with that makes them smell like that forever? Or have I just always gotten the bad batches? I haven't tried tea on them, but I did do the airing, the baking soda, even washed the things (with those cards you can), and they still stunk.

So I got rid of them.

Sulis said:

Maybe it's not to impress anyone. Maybe it's just because Alamaris really doesn't like things, including tarot decks to look brand new.
I don't either..
And I'm intrigued to know what a deck that's been dunked in tea looks and feels like

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It really does look old.

I did a similar technique to a Vargo Gothic for a friend who needed an old looking deck for a film project. He wanted to borrow my Albano-Waite, because it actually looks beat-up from use, but that's because it's my primary reading deck! I offered to VG partially because I was curious about how to 'age' a deck, and I thought that one would look especially cool if it actually worked.

I didn't immerse the deck completely, because time was a factor. Instead, I soaked all four edges of each card with the tea. Then, after they dried over night, I rubbed the front and back surfaces of each card with lavender oil. After I removed the excess oil, I dusted the surfaces of each card with talcum powder, which filled in the places worn away by the oil.

It really aged the cards way better than I anticipated. The bumps, wrinkles, and wear were nice and random, just like on my 30+ years-old Albano-Waite - but this took only a couple of days, instead of over three decades!

On a side note, I eventually took that Vargo Gothic to my favorite used bookstore, along with some other decks and books. A few weeks later, I went back to see if they had anything new, and they had my VG behind the counter with the rare decks! They were charging $45 for it - I kid you not!

Goodness, so many suggestions! Thank you all so much, its quite appreciated.

To those who wondered why I wanted to do it -- its definitely not to "impress" anyone but myself. Like I mentioned in my original post, I love things that look old, and had plenty of fun doing projects in school that involved fake aging. I didn't think I'd ever consider using the words "tarot" "dunking" and "tea" in the same sentence, but I may be hearkening back to my elementary school days with this one...!

Well Alamaris, if you decided to go for the tea dunking method, I'd LOVE to hear how it turns out for you

I once used this method on my pocket universal waite deck - but I used Nescafe instead. I didn't think tea was strong enough. BIG MISTAKE!!

Yes, the cards look very old now, but they absolutely STINK!! I can't use the deck 'cause I get a splitting headache from the fumes.

One other note:

The lamination is added when the cards are in sheets. Then they are cut.

The card edges are not laminated.

They absorb.

The longer you leave them in the tea…the more they soak…

If you leave them too long (like longer than 30-45 seconds), the more chance the cards will absorb too much.

Then it becomes possible to ruin your deck.

You may want to ask unintersted third parties who have met me, or had me read for them face-to-face or hang out at the Seattle Tarot Lovers Dinners just what my decks really look like before you take the tea dunking step...

You know, if your poor Tarot deck had sentience, and it could hear us casually chatting about these different things we are suggesting you do to it....

"Shall we dunk it?"

"Yes but not too long...You don't want to DESTROY it!"

"Remember to rub it against untreated wood as well."

"But not TOO much...I mean then it'd be ruined..."

"Oh yes yes, quite agree, quite agree...We just want to rough it up a bit...We don't want to KILL it!"

I begin to be tempted by aging a deck... I will think about it... ;o)
(Looks madly at her tarot chests to find a victim... niark niark niark (crazy laugh))

I would love to see pictures before/after like in the trimming index... but I guess you won't have one of the most important information, the feel of the deck once aged in your hands...

Baroli said:

HOw about if you just take it out and use it. I understand using a deck is the best way wear a finish off. Just my opinion,....

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That's what I was gonna say too. Wouldnt it be better to have it worn because it's been shuffled and read with many many times? I would say just let it wear on it's own. It will.. in about 70 years.

edit to add: seriously, they do eventually wear. Maybe try rubbing your hands together with scented oil (not toooo much but just a little oil) before shuffling the deck. That will soften and darken the edges a bit..