How to clean a graded card case
Cleaning the outside of a CGC, SGC or TAG slab: what to use, what to keep off it, which marks are normal, and when a free fix or a new holder is better.
By the Rip.fan Editorial Team.
Published 6 min read
Clean only the outside of a slab, and gently: lift off dust with a soft damp cloth, wash off smudges with a little mild soap in lukewarm water, and keep window sprays, alcohol and solvents away from it. Never soak a slab, since TAG’s slabs are not hermetically sealed, and never open one: removing a card from a CGC holder voids its guarantee, and an opened SGC holder means grading the card again. For a new slab that arrives marked, use the grader’s free fix before you clean it, and for a deep mark on an old one, a paid new holder is the safer route.
What can you safely do to a slab?
Treat the holder as the only thing you touch. The card inside is sealed in place: CGC’s holder is ultrasonically welded and resists impacts and tampering, and TAG’s slabs are sealed by ultrasonic welding around the edge.
The grade belongs to the card in that holder, so the holder stays shut:
- CGC: taking a card out of its holder voids any guarantee CGC provides, and the card would have to go back as a raw card to be graded again.
- SGC: if a holder is opened, the card must be regraded and the grading fee is due.
- TAG currently does not take cards in other companies’ slabs; every card must reach it in a semi-rigid holder and a penny sleeve.
That leaves three things to do for a worn case: clean the outside, claim a free fix if the slab is new, or pay the grader for a new holder.
Should you clean a new slab or send it back?
Check the free-fix window first, because CGC’s and TAG’s run from the day the slab arrives. CGC’s policy, posted on May 16, 2023, counts obvious marks, scuffs or blemishes in or on the holder as holder defects only if they cannot be safely removed.
| Grader | What the free fix covers | Window |
|---|---|---|
| CGC | Holder defects: obvious marks that cannot be safely removed, or debris the card did not shed | 14 days from receipt, original submitter only |
| TAG | Cards that arrive cracked, damaged or with debris | 10 business days from arrival |
The fine print matters. CGC fixes a qualifying holder at no cost, shipping included, but if it decides the holder was within its standards, it returns the card in the same holder and charges round-trip shipping. For labeling errors and mechanical defects, TAG gives a 10-day window. If you bought the slab from someone else, CGC’s holder-defect window is closed to you, because only the original submitter can claim.
How do you clean the outside?
TAG’s slabs are optical-grade, UV-protectant acrylic. Use the gentlest method on CGC and SGC holders too.
ACRYLITE, an acrylic sheet maker, gives this routine for its sheet, adapted here for a sealed case:
- Dust with a soft, slightly damp cloth. ACRYLITE warns that a dry or gritty cloth can leave fine marks and build static, which draws in more dust.
- Wash smudges off with mild soap or detergent in lukewarm water, on a clean soft cloth, with light pressure.
- Wipe again with a cloth damp with clean water, then blot dry. ACRYLITE rinses its sheet with clean water; a slab should not go under the tap.
- Keep moisture away from the edges. TAG’s slabs are welded at set spots around the perimeter and are not hermetically sealed, so water has no business near the seams.
- Let it dry fully before it goes back in a sleeve or a box.
An anti-static cleaner for plastics also cuts down on dust, with a damp cloth between uses.
What should never touch a slab?
ACRYLITE warns against alcohol, acetone, lacquer thinner, gasoline, benzene and carbon tetrachloride, and against window cleaning sprays and kitchen scouring compounds. It says these can mark the surface or weaken it into fine surface cracks, called crazing, and it advises against abrasive cleaners as well. Do not try a new product out on the face of a slab.
Can you polish out a surface mark?
Fine marks on acrylic sheet can be hand polished out: a plastic polish made for them, rubbed on a soft flannel pad, then the residue cleared. Deeper marks take wet sanding and a power buffing wheel. That is a workshop method for flat sheet, and a slab is a sealed case with a label and a card inside, so keep polish off it.
Set a simple rule instead. A mark that soap and water do not lift is a job for the grader’s reholder service, not for polish or sandpaper.
Which marks are normal?
Some things look like damage and are not:
- Rainbow patterns. Rainbows and other prismatic effects from light passing through a CGC holder are not defects.
- Newton’s rings. These rings form naturally where two plastic surfaces meet, and are no sign of a fault in the holder.
- Lines inside a TAG slab’s edges. TAG’s clear edges show the ultrasonic weld marks, which can look like cracks but are not.
- Marks on the inside of the holder caused by the card. CGC does not count these as holder defects, and no cleaning can reach them.
Our guide to spotting a fake slab covers the signs that are real warnings, and checking the cert number is the first test of any slab, as our guide to checking a graded card’s cert explains.
When should you pay for a new holder?
When the case is cracked, chipped or deeply marked. Each grader will move the card into a new holder of its own, on its own conditions. Prices and waits on October 12, 2026:
| Grader | Price | What qualifies | Estimated wait |
|---|---|---|---|
| CGC ReHolder | $10 a card | A card still in its original CGC or CSG holder; the grade does not change | 20 working days |
| SGC reholder | $50 at Standard or $100 at Expedited, declared value up to $3,500; $75 or $150 up to $7,500 | Unopened SGC holders that are marked, chipped, cracked or otherwise damaged | 40 or more business days at Standard, 2 to 3 at Expedited |
| TAG reslab | $15 a card plus shipping | A TAG slab the collector damaged | Sent back within 15 business days of receipt |
CGC’s fees apply to direct submissions by Collector members, and its waits are estimates. SGC’s price rises with the declared value, and its higher bands are Expedited only. TAG says the reslab can ride in the same shipment as a new grading order to share shipping, and recommends insured shipping for the trip in. Our guide to shipping a graded card covers the packing.
How do you stop a slab getting marked?
Mostly by never letting slabs rub against each other or the table. BCW’s 2020 storage post says many collectors sleeve slabs to keep the plastic free of marks. Its resealable graded card sleeve measures 3 3/4 by 5 1/2 inches, in polypropylene, with a 1-inch adhesive flap.
BCW lists PSA, BGS, SGC and CSG slabs among those it fits. CGC’s holder is about 3.15 by 5.30 inches, about 0.6 inches narrower and 0.2 inches shorter than that sleeve. TAG’s standard slab is 5.25 by 3.125 inches and fits most standard graded card sleeves.
Handle a slab by its edges, set it face up on a soft surface, and store it in a box made for slabs. Our guides to storing graded cards and card sleeves and holders cover boxes, light and heat.
Frequently asked questions
Does CGC fix a slab you dropped for free?
No. CGC's free Mechanical Error fix excludes damage caused by the owner's own packing, storage or handling, such as a drop, so a dropped holder goes through the paid ReHolder service.
Can you claim a CGC label error on a slab you bought?
Yes. Anyone can return a CGC label defect as a Mechanical Error, member or not, and a label claim has no time limit. A label that was right when graded but went out of date later goes through ReHolder.
Why is my CGC holder a little thicker than usual?
It holds an odd-sized card in a custom inner sleeve. CGC uses that slightly thicker holder at its own discretion for no extra fee, and it does not count as a thick card holder.
Does a TAG slab block UV light?
Mostly. TAG makes its slabs from UV and abrasion-resistant acrylic that blocks most UV rays below 400 nanometers, and rates them archival quality.