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I was wondering if someone may be able to give me more information about this subject. As many know my son is a magician and I buy him lots of decks. He mentioned the deck would make a popping noise when you applied light pressure on it. The entire deck would flex in one direction or the other with a popping noise. He tells me this was never an issue before the last month or so but recently he has several decks doing this.

I opened a new deck of cards last night and by this morning it's also doing this same thing. I'm not sure what the term is used to explain this, why it happens and perhaps a way to prevent it? Any information would be greatly appreciated!

Lord Nikon wrote:I was wondering if someone may be able to give me more information about this subject. As many know my son is a magician and I buy him lots of decks. He mentioned the deck would make a popping noise when you applied light pressure on it. The entire deck would flex in one direction or the other with a popping noise. He tells me this was never an issue before the last month or so but recently he has several decks doing this.

I opened a new deck of cards last night and by this morning it's also doing this same thing. I'm not sure what the term is used to explain this, why it happens and perhaps a way to prevent it? Any information would be greatly appreciated!

I believe that this has to do with the humidity issue, its probably winter in the US now right? The air being cold and dry would warp the cards.

The exact mechanism i am just guessing, would have to do with nature of the edge of the cards. Being uncoated at the cut edges, there is a much higher porosity/permeability (its like how if the cards are exposed to water, its the edges that start to get wet first). Hence the edges would "dry" out first, causing uneven shrinkage in the card where the outer area shrinks more than the center. And its this uneven shrinkage that causes this popping as the center is being compressed by the edges, having nowhere to go it goes perpendicular to the face of the card. And also because the card is not a square, the long side shrinks more than the shorter side, causing a bend in the cards.

That is how it happens. How to prevent it? This is the difficult part, try not to take the cards out to play too much in winter, or limit yourself to the same couple of decks to contain the damage, or if you are able to control the humidity in the house, turn it up to be less dry. The good news, come the end of winter when the air is less dry, take these cards out to play again, slowly you will find that the problem will go away.

The best name I've heard for the sound the warped deck makes is "The Click of Death" [MURRAY]
(also used for the sound of a failing computer disk drive, specifically Iomega ZIP drives)

There has been some discussion about this problem on UC...found these posts using "deck warp" as a search. They were in the thread "Bicycle Standard Deck Out of Shape". The second one, by sinjin, looks like the best bet for a warp that's bad enough to click:

rousselle wrote:One trick, if it happens again and doesn't fix itself so easily, is to put a bit of baby powder (unscented) in the middle of the table, and slide your cards around in that for a bit. The baby power will pull any moisture out of the cards and return them to a nice, springy condition. Don't worry about the powder "sticking" to the cards. After a little bit of play, those cards will feel exactly like new; no residue.

I learned this trick decades ago, and haven't had to use it often, but it has worked like a charm for prolonging the life of several of my oldest decks. I've since seen this trick (and variations) referred to in a few cardistry tutorials.

sinjin7 wrote:Although my Origins tucks were slightly warped due to the uneven gluing of the bottom flap of the tuck, none were warped to the degree that they affected my cards.

As to decks getting out of shape or having click bends, usually its due to moisture/humidity. Moisture is the enemy of paper playing cards and causes them to warp. If your decks warp due to moisture or humidity, here is a method that works for me:

Put the cards in the tuck but don't close the top flap. Put the whole deck into a sandwich ziplock bag filled with white rice and seal the bag. Then put the ziplock bag into your refrigerator for a couple of days. When you take out the ziplock bag, leave it on your table for about 10 minutes to let the deck get back closer to room temperature before taking the deck out of the ziplock bag (this is to avoid condensation if you're in a humid area). Your cards should be moisture free and in good shape again.

If the cards are warped because of physical use and not due to moisture, then the best bet would be a porper clip or some other type of clip that will compress your cards together.

Yup forgot to mention too much moisture = expansion. Pretty much the same effect as too little moisture. Thats why the USPCC factory controls the humidity strictly

Thanks for all the replies and suggestions. Yes I am on the East Coast and temps are fluctuating from 45F degrees to 15F depending on the day. Not to mention we keep the house at around 71F degrees and my son takes the decks in and out of the house to do magic and keeps them in his pockets at times. Would it be safe to assume once Spring comes around and if he handled the cards for a day or so this issue would resolve itself? I see lots of options in this tread on how to resolve the issue but as volantangel mentioned they should return to their correct state when the temps even out.

I'll toss in a word of recommendation for the Porper clips, although they're not 100% reliable in fixing "the click". But it definitely helps, and the longer you have a deck in one the better, so if a (genuine) Porper isn't too bad for your budget I'd say go for it.

Btw, the moisture/temperature thing goes both ways. I think just about any drastic change in temperature/climate is bad for the cards in general, so I wouldn't expect the issue to "resolve itself".

Magik,

I purchased a few decks of the Watermelons for my son as we discussed in a different thread. Tuesday night I let him open up the pack and see if he liked the cards. He probably handed them for about an hour or so. He put the cards back in to the box and I returned them to my bedroom for the night. The next evening I brought him the cards and let him handle them for a little bit longer. After a few minutes he mentioned the warping/popping thing. He had mentioned this type of issue a few days prior with regards to his other new cards. So I took a look and sure enough they were making this noise and I had no idea why.

What I cannot recall is if the Watermelons were doing this when he first opened the deck on Tuesday but I don't recall him mentioning it. Clearly there is some magic trickery going on in my house to cause this issue.

MagikFingerz wrote:I'll toss in a word of recommendation for the Porper clips, although they're not 100% reliable in fixing "the click". But it definitely helps, and the longer you have a deck in one the better, so if a (genuine) Porper isn't too bad for your budget I'd say go for it.

Btw, the moisture/temperature thing goes both ways. I think just about any drastic change in temperature/climate is bad for the cards in general, so I wouldn't expect the issue to "resolve itself".

Lord Nikon wrote:Magik,

I purchased a few decks of the Watermelons for my son as we discussed in a different thread. Tuesday night I let him open up the pack and see if he liked the cards. He probably handed them for about an hour or so. He put the cards back in to the box and I returned them to my bedroom for the night. The next evening I brought him the cards and let him handle them for a little bit longer. After a few minutes he mentioned the warping/popping thing. He had mentioned this type of issue a few days prior with regards to his other new cards. So I took a look and sure enough they were making this noise and I had no idea why.

What I cannot recall is if the Watermelons were doing this when he first opened the deck on Tuesday but I don't recall him mentioning it. Clearly there is some magic trickery going on in my house to cause this issue.

MagikFingerz wrote:I'll toss in a word of recommendation for the Porper clips, although they're not 100% reliable in fixing "the click". But it definitely helps, and the longer you have a deck in one the better, so if a (genuine) Porper isn't too bad for your budget I'd say go for it.

Btw, the moisture/temperature thing goes both ways. I think just about any drastic change in temperature/climate is bad for the cards in general, so I wouldn't expect the issue to "resolve itself".

Haha you are comparing a sealed environment to an open one, there would definitely be a big difference between rates of exposure.

As for whether it would fix itself, i would say probably, but it takes time as well. Come spring take the cards out and slowly play with them again, they should start to return to its original state, if it hasnt already been destroyed by then

Some people just don't read the labels:



I work in a printing company (East Coast) and we get that issue a lot with the rigid substrates. Cold air and moisture makes it curl up. That mainly happens with substrates that are out of the box. What we sometimes do is flip them over so the curves are facing each other: () Like that if you get what I mean. That often helps flatten them out.

Humidity is also a huge component. If you're not up to keeping stuff in rice, try a thick cardboard box or shoebox. Make sure it's a sturdy box with no holes in it. They typically absorb a good chunk of the moisture so your cards don't have to.

Lord Nikon wrote:Magik,

I purchased a few decks of the Watermelons for my son as we discussed in a different thread. Tuesday night I let him open up the pack and see if he liked the cards. He probably handed them for about an hour or so. He put the cards back in to the box and I returned them to my bedroom for the night. The next evening I brought him the cards and let him handle them for a little bit longer. After a few minutes he mentioned the warping/popping thing. He had mentioned this type of issue a few days prior with regards to his other new cards. So I took a look and sure enough they were making this noise and I had no idea why.

What I cannot recall is if the Watermelons were doing this when he first opened the deck on Tuesday but I don't recall him mentioning it. Clearly there is some magic trickery going on in my house to cause this issue.

Do you keep a relatively low temperature in your bedroom? I know a lot of people do. If so, that little difference from the rest of the house might have been enough to cause it.

I am outside of Washington D.C and we go through all 4 seasons. I have the thermostat in the house set to 70 degrees. So this means upstairs could be another 5 degrees warmer. Not to mention whomever sold them to me and how cold was the shipping across country. My son said none of the Gatorbacks are having this issue but some of the cards from T11 and Ellusionist are and the Watermelons I just got also. Most of the decks of cards he's dealing with were opened on Christmas Day or shortly after. I don't know if this issue is common and why it's happening to at least 4 decks of cards if not more.

I can find out this evening whether or not the Watermelons were doing this at the time he opened the deck or if it started the next day. I'd be more than willing to try out the various solutions of fixing this issue mentioned by other users. My main concern was he mentioned it started happening in the past month or so and he never had this issue before. Surely it's environmental I hope. I know he does various sleights and such and pressure fans etc but didn't think basic card usage caused this.

Should the decks be stored laying flat on the larger surfaced side or should it be stood upright like books or laid on their narrow sides?

MagikFingerz wrote:

Lord Nikon wrote:Magik,

I purchased a few decks of the Watermelons for my son as we discussed in a different thread. Tuesday night I let him open up the pack and see if he liked the cards. He probably handed them for about an hour or so. He put the cards back in to the box and I returned them to my bedroom for the night. The next evening I brought him the cards and let him handle them for a little bit longer. After a few minutes he mentioned the warping/popping thing. He had mentioned this type of issue a few days prior with regards to his other new cards. So I took a look and sure enough they were making this noise and I had no idea why.

What I cannot recall is if the Watermelons were doing this when he first opened the deck on Tuesday but I don't recall him mentioning it. Clearly there is some magic trickery going on in my house to cause this issue.

Do you keep a relatively low temperature in your bedroom? I know a lot of people do. If so, that little difference from the rest of the house might have been enough to cause it.

Storing flat is always best since gravity works for you to keep the cards flat. If you store them upright any softening will allow curving and warps to have their own way.

Ah, the click bends. They've been vexing card mechanics and cardists for years. Unfortunately, paper cards are not invincible, so its just one of those things you have to live with, especially if you're in climates that have big temperature changes, or humid climates. Thank you, dazzleguts, for using my post, it saves me the time of re-typing it myself.

Another method I like to use (other than the rice bag) is to cut the deck in half, turn one half over, and then faro or bridge shuffle the two halves together. This way, you'll end up with a deck that has alternating cards that are face up and face down. Put the cards back in the tuck and put them in a Porper clip for a couple of days. If you don't have a Porper clip, then place the deck between two heavy books, this will be just as good as a Porper.

I'm surprised to hear that your Watermelon Bees warped like that. I think the Watermelon Bees are some of the finest examples of Ohio-made, casino-grade Bee cards. I love how thick, stiff, and durable that cards stock is. Compare the snap of Watermelon Bees to regular Kentucky-made Bicycle stock and you'll feel and hear the difference.

By the way, you're son is lucky to have a father that willing to supply him with such fine decks.

sinjin,

Thanks for the kind words. I think it's important to nourish our children the best we know how. My son is an elite soccer goalkeeper and spends most nights either training or on the road traveling to training or tournaments etc. In his spare time he does magic and loves it very much. As with anything else I do, I obsess and that leads to good things for my kids at times. Now that I can buy him the decks he wants and sell off my extras to cover the expenses, it's pretty much breaking evening. He's already hit me up for 2 decks of Black Fontaine from the 6 I pledged for haha.

On a serious note, I took the Watermelon deck...flipped over every 2 cards in the deck and placed them back in to the tuck case with the top left open. Then I placed it underneath a large heavy wooden duck that I use to keep my coin change. After one night the deck returned to it's non-popping condition. So next up, the duck is sitting on a deck of White Madison Rounders...we'll see how that turns out tomorrow. If anyone else needs their cards fixed my duck is ready to help!

sinjin7 wrote:Ah, the click bends. They've been vexing card mechanics and cardists for years. Unfortunately, paper cards are not invincible, so its just one of those things you have to live with, especially if you're in climates that have big temperature changes, or humid climates. Thank you, dazzleguts, for using my post, it saves me the time of re-typing it myself.

Another method I like to use (other than the rice bag) is to cut the deck in half, turn one half over, and then faro or bridge shuffle the two halves together. This way, you'll end up with a deck that has alternating cards that are face up and face down. Put the cards back in the tuck and put them in a Porper clip for a couple of days. If you don't have a Porper clip, then place the deck between two heavy books, this will be just as good as a Porper.

I'm surprised to hear that your Watermelon Bees warped like that. I think the Watermelon Bees are some of the finest examples of Ohio-made, casino-grade Bee cards. I love how thick, stiff, and durable that cards stock is. Compare the snap of Watermelon Bees to regular Kentucky-made Bicycle stock and you'll feel and hear the difference.

By the way, you're son is lucky to have a father that willing to supply him with such fine decks.