Old bookbinder told me to stop using PVA for everything

Back when I started out an old timer named Frank who worked out of his basement told me I was ruining my books by using PVA glue on everything. He swore by wheat paste for any project that wasn't a perfect bound paperback. I ignored him for two years because PVA was faster and stronger. Then I had to rebind a customer's 1930s encyclopedia set that I used PVA on originally and the spines cracked open like a dry riverbed. Has anyone else found wheat paste to be worth the extra time for certain books?

2 comments

2 Comments

max_foster3d ago

Frank let me have it the same way back in 2003 when I was repairing a set of Dickens novels. I switched to wheat paste for any book printed before 1950 and my rebinds have held up way better ever since. The old timers knew that PVA gets brittle over time and wheat paste stays flexible which makes all the difference on those older papers.

finleyfox3d ago

Frank had it right. Wheat paste is non-negotiable for anything with old paper. PVA dries hard and fights the natural movement of leather and cloth. I keep a batch of wheat paste in the fridge for a week of work, then make a new one. Saves me from having to strip cracked PVA off customer books later.