MARKED CARDS'S DYES and SOLVENTS
The chemistry for marking playing cards plays a very important role. Without the right recipe one cannot put-on the work correctly. In addition to the chemistry it is as important to know how to use the dyes: how to apply them, how to mix the substances and in what proportions. And let's not forget good old experience. Marking cards is a skill and like any other skill one can only perfect it through experience. marked cards contact lenses
However, one must also keep-up with the times and changes. Ask any doctor, if you use too much penicillin the bacteria eventually develops resistance and then you have to develop new medications. As we're about to see, a similar thing must have happened to playing cards when the manufacturers found out that card cheats were marking their playing cards with alcohol-based dyes. In fact, the choice of solvent is possibly the biggest issue due to some latest changes in manufacturing of playing cards. So, if you discover an old secret manuscript on how to mark cards you can probably use it to wrap fish in it (unless you can sell it to a collector along with the blueprint for the steam engine) because it most likely won't work with most of the playing cards that are currently sold.
OLD CARDS vs. NEW CARDS
Many old books will tell you that you need to dilute a dye in alcohol to make up the solution for painting cards. One reasoning for the use of alcohol is to avoid using water-based dyes, because water takes longer to evaporate and while it is drying it also gets absorbed by the paper. This longer drying process often produces buckles and/or dimples on the cards, which is definitely an undesired side effect. Such dimples are easily visible if light hits the card under the right angle. Old paper player were aware of this problem and they solved it by using highly concentrated alcohol, which is what many old books advise us to use. card cheating
Anyone trying to follow these instructions nowadays will soon discover that any alcohol dye produces what looks like a white frosty residue on most types of playing cards. This spot is produced by the alcohol itself, and, technically speaking, it is actually not a residue. If you rub some alcohol on a clean piece of glass you will see that it does not leave any residue after it evaporates. The frosty spot on the card is actually an alcohol burn. In effect, alcohol damages the finish of the card. So, why did the old books advise to use alcohol? Were they wrong? I discovered the answer totally by chance.
