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I missed an opportunity of getting my hands on a nice aged pack of tarot cards (I was to stingy on my ebay bid)
Now I want another pack but cant find any, and man I have looked.
So my only option is to make one (a bit like from hell) but how do I do it convincingly.

Any ideas guys ?


Thanx

FRK

(did a search and found nothing)

Sandpaper + various stains. If it's a contemporary tarot, but used.
Otherwise, buy an antique one.

Best way I think to get cards old & dirty is to wait 50-60 years. Failing that, you could just go out and get them dirty. Buy a new deck and put them on the ground outside and walk gently over them a few times.

Or you could try the old method of instant dried coffee mixed with a little cold water, then brush it onto the cards and allow to dry.

Sandpaper is another good one. Or you can lightly wave a lighter back and forth underneath the cards to give a darkish old look - be careful not to scorch the faces too much though.

Finally, you could try (although I cant really recommend this) washing a pair of jeans with a deck in the pocket. I did this buy mistake once, and found the cards came out quite faded - and hence, looked slightly aged.

The reason i cant realy advise this method is that I dont want to be responsible for your washing machine breaking. After all, I only did it by accident, and probably wouldn't have if i'd noticed the cards in the pocket.

Good luck. Hope it works out for you.

Hmm... Sunlamp fading maybe? Just a thought.

For fading, you could try very fine "finishing paper" form a DIY shop. The finest grades are almost smooth.

Very fine sandpaper and inks has been about the best method I've used. Card shark sell an aged marked tarot or outlaw effects have the carnie tarot.

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TOM....!

If you do a search through Tom Lauten's posts i asure you you will find the answer..
Its what tom does.
and, if you can wait, you would do worse than sending teh cards to him.
He's going to charge you, but the job will no doubt be devine.