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I received a double-deck of Kem "Dance" cards with a C840 date code which are _very_ firmly stuck together. I know some stickiness and transfer is common in the older cards. I've tried peeling a few off of one of the decks, and I'm getting major transfer from both sides.

There's major non-flatness that's not just even curve as well, to the point the decks won't gracefully go in the case, and the case (vertical, lid with lip, top with circle with a spade on it) is cracked. Needless to say I'm peeved with the seller.

Is there a known method to separate these while reducing transfer damage? Steam? Gentle dry heating? Other?

TIA.

I'm speaking to paper, not KEM cards, but maybe there's some crossover? For paper, curling is often a sign of the presence of moisture. I use corn starch and silica packets to help remove moisture and grime. Sometimes baking soda for odors but baking soda is abrasive compared to corn starch. I can't speak to avoiding image transfer, or how this affects KEM cards - just my two cents I thought I'd throw in. Maybe Chuqii has some info. Good luck.

You can put them in the freezer, and then gently work the cards without bending them, twisting the top and bottom of the packet gently, not bending the cards - to try to gently separate them and reduce transfer - but nothing is going to save them at this point, no way to clean them up

to prevent such damage they need to have been stored properly, and with cards like that its pretty hit or miss as age sets in - they off-gas and if they don’t breath they bond

I had a set that went brittle - so don’t ask me for the real secret other than an argon chamber - and without a weight to keep them pressed flat they will curl, back when I got mine there was a guy making steel card weights for them…