How to Take Care of Your Playing Cards

Our top ways for making your playing cards last.

Nov 30, 2025

Is my move good enough? How original is this closer? I bet people won’t even watch this video, why should I bother posting it?

If you’ve ever asked yourself these questions, we feel you. It’s a struggle we still wrestle with ourselves.

The online nature of cardistry and it’s inseparable connection to social media makes it easy to second-guess ourselves, invent problems, and care too much about what others might think.

But it’s this mentality that strips the momentum from our art form. Cardistry is at its best when the community is creating and sharing, not gatekeeping and overthinking.

To remind ourselves of this, and to inspire you to just go for it, we’ve framed this into the motto of our new “Measure Once, Cut Twice” t-shirts – a call to action for you to think less, and “cut” more. In fact, today is the last day of our Cyber Weekend sale where you can get these shirts at a special launch price of $35 (normally $45).

You can check them out here.

All that said, there’s an overlooked factor to being able to even perform cardistry and share it with the world: deck care.

So, let’s dive into this month’s article on how to keep your cards in good shape so you can practice, experiment, and shuffle as much as you want.

How to Make Your Playing Cards Last Longer

If you’ve ever wondered how to fix clumpy playing cards or how to stop decks from wearing out too fast, this guide covers everything you need to know.

We all have decks sitting in our collection that we can’t seem to let go of but feel like they’ve reached the end of their road. It’s sad to see a favorite deck get to the point where you don’t want to use it anymore, and the unfortunate truth is this happens most with the decks you enjoy the most, because those are the ones tempting you to pick them up constantly.

It’s a bit of a catch-22. You should be able to use any deck as much as you want without consequence.

Over the years, I’ve compiled some thoughts on how this can actually be possible. I want to spread the wealth on deck care so you can save your wealth and avoid buying new cards all the time. Here’s how to keep using your favorite decks without ruining them and avoid that itch to open a new one every week.

Your Hands Are the Biggest Factor

The single biggest difference-maker in keeping your deck feeling conditioned isn’t something about the cards – it’s your hands.

Depending on your environment, the air might be humid, dry (lucky you), or somewhere in between. Warmer climates tend to be more humid, and your hands will eventually start to sweat or build up oils and dirt. When that happens, all you need to do is rinse them. Soap helps if you want extra cleanliness, but the goal is simply to reset your hands so you can get back to the important part: shuffling.

If you naturally have sweatier hands, another simple trick is to put your deck back in the box after a while and switch to another deck. This gives the first deck time to reset, and when you take it out again, it’ll feel noticeably better.

Environmental Factors Matter More Than You Think

Humidity is a big one, and you can control it a bit by shuffling in an air-conditioned room or staying out of direct sun. But the other major environmental factor is what you’re practicing above.

Every cardist knows the pain of dropping a packet perfectly onto the corner on a hard floor. It makes me cringe every time.

Thankfully, it’s easy to avoid. Shuffle over something soft such as a carpet, rug, couch, or bed. Your deck will thank you. A desk also works if your hands are close to the surface, since the impact is minimal.

Of course, that isn’t always possible when you’re out and about. Personally, I like to limit the use of my favorite decks and think of them as “inside decks.” If I’m on concrete on a hot sunny day, I’m bringing out black-seal Rider Backs. Zero guilt if those get destroyed.

Some Moves Are Harder on Decks, So Choose Wisely

Another overlooked factor is how certain moves treat the cards. I use broken-in or less prized decks when practicing anything that bends the stock, like springs and aggressive aerials, or when working on a move where I’m still figuring out the grip.

Using a “practice deck” for these kinds of moves keeps your favorite decks from losing their original shape and pop too fast.

Even When a Deck Feels Done, There’s Still Hope

Eventually, every deck reaches a point where it seems like its life is nearly over. After all, they’re made of paper, not stone. But even when a deck feels like it’s on its last legs, there’s still something simple you can do, and it has saved me countless times.

Fanning powder.

If you’re unfamiliar, fanning powder was originally applied to playing cards by a magician named Audley Walsh in the 1940s to help with smoother spreads, cleaner fans, better friction control for manipulation acts, and to prevent clumping under hot stage lights. It was made from zinc stearate, a fine powder that mixes invisibly into a deck while giving each card just enough smoothness to revive its handling.

Given that this formula was mainly used for stage magic and wasn’t optimized for cardistry, we saw an opportunity to improve it. We experimented in our lab and developed a new blend specifically for cardistry. It incorporates PTFE powder, and we found the right balance to mix it with zinc stearate. It works incredibly well.

We’ve even had customers like Jake Jarvis say it “completely revived decks that I thought were done for.”

So if your deck starts to clump or feel sluggish, grab a bottle of our fanning powder, apply a light layer, and shuffle it into the deck. It genuinely brings cards back to life.

A Better Shuffling Experience Ahead

Now that you’ve got these tips in your toolkit, your decks will stay fresh every time you pick them up. And if you ever need a reset, you can always come back to this guide.

-Dom

1. Faro 2 by Jack Trathen

This is one of those moves that makes you stop and think, “How did no one come up with this sooner?”

A deck has been shuffled millions of times, yet this idea was sitting right in front of us the whole time.

Jack found it.

Instead of forcing the corners of two packets together like a faro, he simply lines up the edges, slides them cleanly along each other, and then pulls back to “wind up” the shuffle. The cards interlace in this natural, elegant way that feels both obvious and brand new.

It’s such a clever twist on a fundamental action that it almost feels like a discovery rather than an invention. A reminder that even the simplest mechanics in cardistry still have unexplored territory, and there’s so much experimentation left to do.

2. Spearmint by Trin Changkasiri

Trin is back with another beautifully engineered move, and the name “Spearmint” couldn’t fit it better.

It opens upward in a sharp, unified motion that feels almost like a spear launching - the central moment is crisp, refreshing, and visually striking all at the same time.

Using both the thumb and pinky to Angel cards out from the central packet at the same time is super innovative. Then, the extra card he slides out the top nicely mirrors the bottom packet, adding tension and symmetry to the moment happening in the center.

It’s a move that feels both delicate and powerful, and Trin makes it look effortless.

3. Guhlazzic by Benji Tran

Benji showed up to the Classic Cardistry Contest with a combination of two old-school XCM moves that, somehow, no one has thought to fuse together.

The style is on point, but the control is what really stands out.

Each of these moves requires serious balance and coordination on its own. Doing them at the same time is already a challenge, and he still manages to catch the arm spread on his foot without breaking rhythm. Honestly, landing the arm spread alone is impressive. Pairing it with a cobra cut (one of the toughest, most demanding moves in the XCM world) takes the whole thing to another level.

It’s a perfect blend of nostalgia, difficulty, and showmanship.

Honorable Mentions

Tons of other talented cardists released new bangers in November, check ‘em out:

Quick Bites

Around the World: Cardistry World announced their “Cardistry World Cup” this month. While information is still limited, you can get updates from the Instagram page here.
Isolations are Back: After seeing Duy and Hung return to the isolation game with their premium video Cardmatrix, we expected them to silence everyone else trying to join the ISO game - and then Daniel Lin dropped this mind-bending routine. Are isolations officially popular again?!
Bridging the Gap: Lunii Sun just dropped a powerful piece on how much the cardistry world has changed since the days of Best Cardist Alive, and why sharing good moves still matters. When building CardistryCN to spotlighting creators across borders, Lunii reminds us that the community only grows when we uplift the people in it. It’s a must-read for anyone who believes great cardistry deserves to be seen.
The Battle Begins: Missing Battles is returning in 2026. This is your sign to polish off those half-baked ideas you have laying around and prepare for battle. You can stay updated by following their page.
Take Your Time: “The best thing you can do for yourself as a cardist is allow yourself to take the time you need to do things right.” — some wise words from Lewis Caldwell for Biz’s book Timeistry.
It’s a bird, it’s a plane: Actually it’s just cards. Check out the winners from Classic Cardistry Contest’s “Aerial” theme this past month, and stayed tuned for their “big changes” in 2026.