I recently noticed that one of my tarot decks had bent after I had left it on a window sill for a couple of days. Therefore, I had to do some research and figure out how to fix bent tarot cards? 

You can try fixing bent or warped tarot cards by applying moderate heat and pressure to them. You can do this with the following methods. 

• Method 1 – Steaming your cards
• Method 2 – Hair drying your cards
• Method 3 – Ironing your tarot cards
• Method 4 – Placing your cards under a heavy press

Trying some of these methods could potentially save your cards, so they are worth trying. Let’s go through them step by step and hope one of them works. If the step by step methods don’t work for your deck, there are still a couple of options that can save your deck! So stick with me to the end, and hopefully, you’ll find a way that works for you. 

How to fix a bent or warped tarot card?

It is heartbreaking to see your tarot cards get damage, but if you are using them every day, it is almost inevitable that this will happen at some point. If the damage is visible to the extent that you start recognizing your card while you are shuffling, it can get pretty bothersome. It won’t serve you in the way a shuffle should because you might be affecting the deck consciously. Maybe you are doing some extra shuffles when you see the card on top. 

When you are handling your tarot cards, accidents do happen. A shuffle gone wrong can bend or sometimes drop one of your cards to the floor and cause damage. Another common way to get your cards damaged is by having a rubber band around the deck all the time. The band will cause pressure on the middle part of the deck and bend the deck over time. 

Also, the humidity in the air can warp and bend your cards. Leaving your cards in storage where humidity can sneak up on the deck can leave its mark. Especially if you live in a humid area of the world, you will most likely encounter this phenomenon. I live in a coastal area, so the air tends to get pretty sticky now and then. 

But whether the bent is caused by you shuffling too roughly, your dog sitting on them, or leaving them in a humid place, the damaged tarot deck isn’t always a lost cause. Let’s go over four methods that you can try if you’ve had an unlucky bend on your cards. 

And before we go into the step by step methods, let me remind you about a Disclaimer: If you choose to try these methods, do it at your own will. It is possible that you damage your cards. TarotFarm is not responsible for any possible damages. 

Method 1. – Steaming your tarot cards

In this method, you are applying heat to your cards in the form of steam coming from boiling water. Ok, that sounds scary! But don’t worry, even though water and paper don’t usually work well together, we are not letting them touch each other on this one.  

You will need your stove, a pan, a heat resistant bowl, water, and some plastic wrap for this method. 

1. Start by bringing about a quarter gallon of water in a pan. Use a pan with a lid on it to speed up the process and save energy, of course. While the water is heating up, have everything else ready, because you will need the water to be boiling to create steam.
2. When the water is boiling, you are ready for the second step. Now, pour the boiling water into your bowl. Make sure you have a heat resistant bowl so that it can handle the boiling hot water. And be careful when you are pouring the boiling water because it will burn.
3. Once the boiling water is in the bowl, you will want to place the plastic wrapping quickly on top of the bowl. You can use saran wrap, but I prefer something a bit sturdier like a “press ‘n seal” wrap, as it is durable, and it will still allow the heat to pass from the steam to your card. 
4. When the bowl is wrapped with the plastic tightly, you can go ahead and place your bent or warped card on top of the plastic wrap. It will take anywhere from 5 seconds to 30 seconds to see some results. Monitor the card closely and observe if the bent has straightened. Repeat if needed.

You’ll be surprised how fast and efficient way to fix a bend this is. Just observe the card closely cause I noticed that the card started bending the opposite direction I desired at first. I just turned it around at it straightened itself out. 

Method 2. Blowing the cards with a hairdryer.

In this method, you remove humidity off your cards by blowing hot air onto them. This method works well if the cards have been in humid storage, causing them to bend, warp, or crease. 

This method will require a flat surface, something to hold your cards in palce and a hairdryer that blows hot air. 

1. Start by laying the card on a flat surface. A table will do well. It is preferable that the card is curving into the surface and not outward. Having the card this way will give it an extra boost to get back into its original shape.
2. The second thing is that you will want to hold the card in place somehow. Put something heavy on the corners of the card that will keep it in place. The air coming from the dryer is hot enough to hurt your fingers, so you don’t want to be holding them while you are blowing. Therefore find an object that will keep the card in place.
3. Now take your hairdryer and turn it on so that it is blowing hot air. The dryer’s heat will remove any humidity in the card, hopefully straightening any creases or bends. Some hairdryers get pretty hot, so be careful not to damage the cards. Blow the air evenly back and forth on the surface of the card. After 30 seconds to 1 minute, you should see some results.
4. Observe the results and validate if you need to do it again. If the bent still exists, blow the hairdryer closer to the card but never take it close to touching it. If this method is not working out, try the next one.

Just be careful not to overdo this method with too hot air. It can damage the card so start with moderate heat. 

Method 3- Ironing Your Tarot Cards

This method is as easy as ironing your shirt. In fact, you can do this at the same time as you are ironing your shirts. 

You will need an iron, table, ironing pad, or a fabric to protect your cards from the extreme heat of the iron. 

1. Start by placing the cards on the hard surface that can take the heat. The ironing board might not be the best at this, as it tends to be a bit soft. Anyhow, place a fabric that can stand the heat of the iron on top of your cards. This will prevent damaging your tarot cards from the hot surface of the iron. Placing them directly against the iron can set paper cards on fire or melt the cards’ lamination. A t-shirt or some other cloth that can stand the heat will do.
2. Set the iron’s heat according to the material that will act as the cover for your cards. If it is cotton, set the iron to cotton and if the cover is silk, set the iron’s heat to silk.
3. You will also want to check before you start ironing that you do not use the iron’s steam-functionality. The steam can further damage the cards and make this fixing procedure pointless.
4. When your iron is on the correct settings and warmed up, you can iron your cards. To straighten them, move the iron evenly across the fabric that is covering the cards. Check the effect the heat is having after 10 to 20 seconds and continue if they still need ironing.

Just like with other methods, be careful not to overdo it. Start with moderate heat and see if it works. You don’t want to melt or burn your cards. 

Method 4 – Place them under a heavy press

In this method, you are placing your bent or warped cards under heavy pressure and hoping this will take care of the job. You can do this with either a card press or putting some weight on the cards. 

This is not as fast as other methods, but there is no danger of damaging the cards by exposing them to heat. 

1. Place your cards on a flat hard surface. It can be a table or the inside page of a book.
2. Pile some books or other things that will pressure the card and leave it there overnight.
3. Observe the card in the morning and see if it worked.

While researching, I also found this device on Etsy, which allows you to store your cards in a card press. It helps keep the cards flat, it’s antique, and it’s quite expensive, considering a new deck costs as little as 10 dollars. So maybe not for me, at least. 

What to do with a damaged deck?

In moments when the damage is beyond repair, you might feel despair that your deck is now worthless. But I assure you that this is not always the case. If none of these fixes above work for your cards, you can still do a couple of things before you choose to retire your deck. 

First, you can ask others if they have spare cards. An excellent place to look for is tarot forums. There might be someone who would be willing to send you a missing card. The missing cards thread at tarotforum.net is quite long, and people seem to be trading extra cards there. If you are lucky, you will find someone with the same deck and a spare card for you. Go ahead and give it a try! 

The second thing you can do is to look at this whole ordeal of damaged cards differently. You can try to embrace the uniqueness of your deck and enjoy its authenticity. Then bend, warp, or other damage shows the fact that the deck has been around. The card’s damage holds a story behind it that you can tell or reminisce about whenever you read with it.