Swore I'd never use PVA for a full rebind, but a rainy weekend in March changed my mind

I was working on a 1920s poetry collection for a friend. My usual wheat paste just would NOT hold the new spine lining on the old, brittle text block. After the third fail, I remembered this old binder in my city who always talked about using a 50/50 mix of PVA and methyl cellulose for problem books. Mixed up a small batch, applied it thin, and the hold was instant and perfect. The flexibility after drying is way better than I expected. What other 'rules' have you all broken that actually worked out?

3 comments

3 Comments

daniel_coleman9115d ago

Totally get that. Sometimes the old-school "never do this" advice just doesn't hold up. My big one was using hot glue for a quick repair on a cheap paperback. It's still holding years later, go figure.

fionat5515d ago

Right? Why do people get so mad about hot glue on books? I fixed a cookbook spine with it like five years ago and that thing gets used all the time, still perfect. I guess some rules are just meant to be broken if it works for you.

grace_kelly4515d ago

Honestly the hot glue thing can be a real problem long term though. It gets brittle and can damage the paper when you try to remove it later. For a cookbook you use all the time, a proper bookbinding glue would last way longer without the risk. I get why people use it in a pinch, but it's one of those fixes that can make a bigger problem down the road lol.