Is Card Cleaning Just Simply Inevitable?

The conversation on card cleaning in the sports card world has emerged again, as it seems to do every so often. This video is a response to a recent video by ‪@NEO_Cards_Comics‬. Let's discuss...
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[@BrentonPercy]

Thats a good point. Imagine investing big money in a card, that unbeknownst to you, has been cleaned with chemicals. And then 10 years later it changes its surface colour and look. Seems like high risk that the value would drastically decrease.

[@scoa]

That would be super frustrating, and there'd be no recourse. I know of people who had that kind of experience with the Kobe Finest rookie when they took it out after having stored it away for some years, and it was now all green. I hope that doesn't happen to any cleaned cards.

[@ZiggyNo]

Wizards and Magic. Don't hate the cleaners, hate the grader.

[@gregggyf]

This is a very interesting situation,.... OF COURSE you'll never know that a card has been cleaned because third party graders cannot detect a "successfully" cleaned card. But, fortunately/unfortunately Kurt's Card Care has been thanked by the owner of the Victor Wembanyama 1/1 card, so there is a tie in to the now slabbed PSA 10 and Kurt's Card Care. Please correct me if I had made any misrepresentation...... of anything. Have a good evening.

[@scoa]

I wonder if now that everyone knows that 1/1 was cleaned by Kurt's Card Care, if it effects its resale price. There's some percentage of people that would choose not to bid on a card or purchase a card if they know it has been cleaned. I wonder if that percentage is small and wouldn't effect the resale of a card like the Wemby 1/1 or if its actually big enough that the resale value would be effected.

[@BrentonPercy]

I dont mind cleaning. But has the hobby decided where the line is drawn between cleaining and restoration/alteration/modification? Or is this being decided by the grading companies?

[@scoa]

It seems like there are general consensus around trimming, coloring or other things that are obviously altering. Those are all clearly a no-go, and that seems to be a consensus among the card community and among the grading business themselves. But if its things that are on the edge between altering or maybe just cleaning, that's where I think its murky and where consensus doesn't happen. But no one is really there officially drawing a line on anything either. Card community is too split on opinions about it to do so, and the grading companies don't really have any incentive to do so either.

[@NEO_Cards_Comics]

Good video

[@scoa]

Glad you enjoyed it Neo, happy to see you checked it out.

[@davidmillschills]

There is no institution that gives rules or guidelines in this industry/ hobby. The only ones that could give some are the grading companies. If they would seriously be worried they would introduce some kind of guarantee in their submission forms that make the submitee (? the one that submits) state that he has not altered the card by using such substances. They could at least draw a line in the sand. People who do not comply, could be banned from grading or penalties opposed on. Or we just continue like we already do. So, if you cant control it, ignore it.

[@scoa]

That's an interesting idea. I don't know if it'd matter enough to the grading companies for them to take a hard and fast stand on it though. It's such a wishy-washy, does-it-matter-or-not kinda question that they'd get such different takes on, it seems like the only way they'd consider taking action was if there was more concrete consensus from the card community. I don't think anything like that exists with this particular question of card cleaning.