Cleaning for Grading

Cleaning for grading involves the safe removal of surface contaminants from trading cards before professional submission. When done correctly, cleaning can improve presentation and potentially increase grades. When done incorrectly, it can damage cards, result in altered status, or cause outright rejection by grading companies.

Also on this page
  • Cleaning for Grading
  • What Graders Allow vs. Prohibit
  • Understanding the Limits
  • Safe Cleaning Methods
  • Surface Debris Removal
  • Fingerprint Removal
  • What NOT to Do
  • Timing: When to Clean
  • Creating a Clean Environment
  • Documentation
  • Detailed Cleaning Techniques
  • Pre-Submission Cleaning Checklist
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This page is part of the Card Conservation Wiki member library — the working reference behind The Cardboard Alchemists. Technique pages with tested settings, the Card Sensitivity Database, logged incidents with the exact parameters that caused them, and community experiments you will not find written down anywhere else.
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