with his cards being so old and partial unlaminated, a spray fixative will warp the paper. for it to make an impact he would have to spray close and it would not be smooth, fixatives, you spray at least 12 inches from the artwork and its only a fairly like coating. Plus the medium is different than what would be on his cards.
The cards i laminated with self sticking sheets turned out really nicely. If they are thin and bendy, they will still be thin and bendy but less so and a bit more substantial. The did not feel like plastic. the heated laminate does. I have that to and that does not work on cards. I tried.
Well sure, if you spray really close it will not give good results. But that's not how it's meant to be used. You do many light coats. Very light coats. Let it cure completely in between. This would be a labor of love. Blasting the cards with a heavy coat WILL ruin them. Just like rushing any process holds a high failure risk.
12 inches.... try at least 3 feet. You don't want to wet down what you're spraying. You want a light mist applied with smooth even strokes.
I did have heat laminate in mind. (Which I will add, I've seen warp very badly if the laminate machine isn't adjusted right - we always ran test pieces through first.) But the self sticking sheets I've seen had a plastic feel too. I'll take your word for it that some do not. Still, wouldn't they peel after some time and use? And then you'd be stuck right? I can't imagine you could remove that without destroying the cards.
I have never experienced warping with the book covers, but those also have reinforcement, as they are not standalone cards. Part of the reason I started applying it to new books was to prevent the covers from getting trashed (I have a couple that have suffered a lot of abuse, and the covers are in much better condition than a typical soft cover book, with the pages showing far more wear than the covers).
The self adhesive sheets are probably the better choice, especially if available with a matte surface. I still wonder about longevity, and if they will eventually delaminate due to use, ruining the cards. Since I fold the edges of the tape into the cover I have never had that happen, but with exposed edges it will all come down to the adhesive.
Back in the days of the early tarot decks, they sometimes used to glue a backing on the card and fold it around to the front. If you look at old Italian cards, for instance, sometimes they appear to have a patterned border - it's the fold-over backing.
Still boggling over the idea of using spray up close. I guess I learned this at my parents' knees (my dad did a lot of handiwork and always used child labor to shake spray paint, lacquer, etc. and my mom is an artist - they both taught me correct use).
On consideration, I don't recommend using a spray fixative if you've never used one before/don't know how to do it right. Check out some tutorials first and practice.
