Many times in the past I've had Tarot decks from which the cards stick together; this makes readings quite awkward. Long ago I discovered a way to remove the stickiness; but not everyone will know of it, so I'll share it with my readers now. First of all let's look at some of the reasons this might become necessary.REASONS WHY TAROT CARDS STICK TOGETHER * They are coated with a filmy residue and need cleaning * They are coated with a finish that creates static electricity * They have no finish, and the roughness leads them to cling together * They have a glossy finish that leaves them with a tendency to stick * In some cases they don't stick but let's use vintage cards as an example here; you will want some extra glide to reduce friction, thereby reducing wear and tearIn these cases, what should we do? Let's begin by addressing the cleaning issue. To effectively clean Tarot or playing cards, put them in a large tray and sprinkle flour on them. Lightly swirl them around making sure the flour reaches all cards. Once they are well coated, leave them sit at least fifteen minutes. Then individually wipe the flour from each one. As you do this, you will see that the grease or film will roll off with the flour. Once the procedure is complete, the cards shouldn't stick anymore. For the other points on the list above regarding why Tarot cards stick together, you can address them all with the same one process. And too, if you have cleaned your cards and they still stick, try my suggestion, it will work. First you'll need some fanning powder. You can purchase it many places online, I buy mine on eBay. Fanning powder was created for magicians to be able to fan their cards with ease, thus the name. Fanning powder has saved my Tarot card collection from much wear and tear over the years. I love it, and will treat each deck I get with it whether it's new or used. I can't be bothered to take time to discover whether the cards I bought will stick. Besides; I found out in the past that most stick more than ideal. Now the fanning powder treatment is automatic. That is unless the cards are coated with printer's varnish rather than laminate; then I'll attempt to do a test on one of them. I've found that some printer's varnishes break down when fanning powder is applied. In reference to older Tarot cards, if you use any vintage decks for your readings, it is a thrifty idea to treat them periodically with fanning powder to reduce wear and tear as much as possible. The effect of the powder will last longer or shorter dependent on how much you use the deck. For this reason I can't really say how often you should treat them. What I will say is that you will know, so play it by ear.HOW TO USE FANNING POWDERPlace the Tarot deck you wish to treat in a smooth tray - glass works well. Sprinkle with a very small amount of fanning powder. Do not sprinkle straight from the container. If you spill there will be a very difficult mess to clean up as this is very sticky (er, I mean residuous) stuff. I start with about 1/8 of a teaspoon. Delicately swirl the cards in the tray. Be careful with them. Make sure to get some along the card edges. If you feel that the initial amount of fanning powder used wasn't enough, add a small amount more and move the cards around once again. What you don't want is any excess. Shuffle the cards well and wipe of any powder that is visible and white. That's it - all done.A word of caution - fanning powder is filmy. Be careful how and where you handle it, it coats things if you let it fly. Be careful not to breathe it in or to use it close to children or pets; it is mildly toxic.All content copyrighted to Jude's Metaphysical World and the Webmaster ther; 2011 and forth.
