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Finally figured out why my spine glue was bubbling after 3 months
I've been binding journals as a side hobby for about a year now, and every single one I made kept getting these weird little air bubbles in the spine glue after a few months. Drove me nuts. I tried different glues, different amounts, different drying times. Nothing worked. Then last weekend I was reading some old forum posts from like 2018 and someone mentioned that PVA glue can bubble if you apply it too thick on a cold day. My workshop is in my basement and it's like 55 degrees down there in winter. I had been laying it on thick thinking more was better. I switched to thin coats with a warm space heater running and my last three spines came out perfectly smooth. Anyone else run into temperature issues with PVA and have to adjust their whole setup?
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julia_anderson1mo ago
Doubt the temperature is the real culprit here, more likely your glue got old or you changed your brush without noticing. Cold PVA still sets fine if you give it enough time to dry, plenty of folks work in unheated garages year round without trouble. Those bubbles might just be moisture trapped from pressing the pages too soon, which happens no matter the room temperature.
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