val949•1d ago

Switched from glue sticks to PVA for my book repairs and I'm never going back

I've been binding books for about 3 years now, mostly fixing old paperbacks and rebacking library discards. Last month I did a full rebind on a 1920s encyclopedia volume that my neighbor found at a yard sale. Used my usual glue sticks for the spine because they were cheap and easy. The whole thing fell apart inside 2 weeks, pages just dropping out like leaves in October. Picked up a bottle of PVA from a local art supply store in Minneapolis for 12 bucks. Night and day difference. The PVA soaks into the fibers way better and dries flexible instead of rigid and brittle. Plus it doesn't glob up and leave those hard lumps that make the book not close flat. Anyone else deal with glue failures on older books? What adhesive do you use for really fragile paper?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_nathan1d ago

Honestly, your local Minneapolis shop sold you standard PVA for 12 bucks? That feels steep. I get the same basic PVA from Home Depot for like 7 dollars a quart and it works perfect for most old books. For really fragile paper from the 1920s, I'd actually mix it about 50/50 with water first. Makes it soak in even better without making the pages stiff. The glue stick thing was definitely a tough lesson, I lost a 1915 copy of "The Scarlet Letter" that way once.

the_anthony9h ago

$7 at Home Depot sounds about right. I grabbed a gallon off Amazon for like 18 bucks last year. Lasts forever. The 50/50 mix thing is smart for that 1920s paper though. I've got a 1923 copy of "The Great Gatsby" that's basically see-through. Regular PVA would turn it into cardboard. The watered down stuff barely changes the texture. I actually use a spray bottle for really bad pages now. Mist it on light, let it soak in for 30 seconds, then press flat between wax paper. Saves me from ruining another fragile spine.