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Making cards "shuffle-able"

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jwarrend
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Joined: 08/03/2008

I print my game cards onto cardstock with an inkjet. This works well for me, but the cards that come out don't always shuffle very well. I'm wondering what treatments people have found to make cards shuffle easily.

First, I am aware of the simple idea of placing them in card holders. However, I don't usually use 2.5" x 3.5" cards, but custom sizes, so card holders aren't really a good solution. I'm also aware of the approach of printing onto labels and sticking them to existing playing cards, but I don't do that because I usually need to be able to print on both sides of the cards.

A friend showed me some cards that he had sprayed with a fixative spray, something he got at an art store. I thought he said it was charcoal and drawing fixative, yet I bought a product by this name from Grumbacher, called "Matte Tufffilm Final Fixative", and it has no visible effect on the cardstock texture. This guy's cards seemed to have been "roughened" a bit, which made them easier to handle and shuffle.

So, does anyone know of a spray-on product or something similar that makes cards easier to shuffle? I haven't cut the sheets of cards yet, so it can be something that can treat a whole page, or just the individual cards.

Your assistance greatly appreciated!

-Jeff

FastLearner
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Joined: 12/31/1969
Making cards "shuffle-able"

My favorite technique is to laminate cardstock with my Xyron cold laminator. Cold laminators let you cut the laminated item apart at will, so you laminate the full sheet and then cut the cards out.

The resultant cards are very, very close in thickness and stiffness to regular playing cards and shuffle extremely well. The cards can stick together a little bit (not from glue or anything, just the way plastic can stick to itself) so a light sprinkling of unscented talcum powder finishes them off perfectly.

More to your question, I've heard of starch-based paper stiffeners but I have absolutely no experience with them, sorry.

jwarrend
Offline
Joined: 08/03/2008
Making cards "shuffle-able"

FastLearner wrote:
My favorite technique is to laminate cardstock with my Xyron cold laminator. Cold laminators let you cut the laminated item apart at will, so you laminate the full sheet and then cut the cards out.

Sure, the $100 solution is a good bet to work, of course. But I'm wondering if I can get similar results for much less.

Quote:

The resultant cards are very, very close in thickness and stiffness to regular playing cards and shuffle extremely well. The cards can stick together a little bit (not from glue or anything, just the way plastic can stick to itself) so a light sprinkling of unscented talcum powder finishes them off perfectly.

I wonder if one could just sprinkle the bare cardstock with talcum powder to get them to shuffle better. Maybe worth trying...

Quote:

More to your question, I've heard of starch-based paper stiffeners but I have absolutely no experience with them, sorry.

Thanks anyway!

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