Pro tip: stop using PVA glue for everything

I used to use PVA for all my book repairs because it was cheap and easy. Then an old timer at a shop in Portland told me to try wheat paste for spine repairs. It's way more forgiving if you mess up and need to reposition things. Anyone else made the switch and stuck with it?

3 comments

3 Comments

adamthompson1d ago

My buddy runs a small bindery and swore by PVA until he used wheat paste on a 150 year old hymnal. Said the paste let him slide the spine back into place three times before it finally tacked down right. He hasn't touched the white bottle since.

taylorellis1d ago

Oh @adamthompson, you mean reversibility not tack, wheat paste dries slower but doesn't grip stronger than PVA.

josepha327h ago

Man, that hymnal story hits close to home. A buddy of mine, he restores old leather journals for a local shop, and he tried wheat paste on a beat up 1800s ledger. @taylorellis, you're totally right about the tack thing, but for him it was all about the give. He said the spine was so brittle he had to scoot it around like four times before it sat perfect, and PVA would've locked it down after the first try and ruined the whole job. He still uses PVA for modern paperbacks where he doesn't care as much, but for anything fragile he's all in on wheat paste now. I've seen the results myself, and honestly the finish just looks more natural too, less like plastic glue holding stuff together.