PSA: Sewing your signatures with linen thread isn't always better than waxed polyester.

I tried polyester thread on my last rebind of a 400-page fantasy novel after using linen for years, and the polyester held up way better under stress without snapping, has anyone else moved away from traditional materials for durability?

2 comments

2 Comments

uma_mitchell8317d ago

Yeah I heard about this from an old timer at a craft fair last summer. He's been doing bookbinding for like 40 years and told me he switched to polyester thread a while back because linen gets brittle over time. He showed me a book he did with polyester in the 90s and the threads still looked solid. Makes sense if you think about it - linen is natural so it breaks down eventually, polyester is plastic so it lasts. I wouldn't use it for fancy museum stuff but for everyday books you actually read, why not go with what works better.

keith94317d ago

You said linen gets brittle over time, but that's not really accurate. Linen actually gets stronger when it gets wet and doesn't degrade as fast as cotton does. The real issue with linen is it has less stretch so it can snap under sudden tension, not because it gets brittle from age. Polyester is more forgiving with the pull and it doesn't dry rot like some natural fibers can in really dry climates. But a properly stored linen book from the 1800s can still have solid thread, so it's not like linen just falls apart.