Finally switched from wheat paste to PVA after 25 years
I learned bookbinding in the late 90s from an old German master in Minneapolis who swore wheat paste was the only honest adhesive. I stuck with it through every repair and rebind, even when it meant mixing fresh batches and dealing with the smell in my basement shop. Last spring I had a run of 12 hymnals for a local church and the paste kept curling the spine cloth no matter how I adjusted the humidity. A younger binder at the Guild meeting suggested I try PVA for those, just as a test. I fought it for a week, then gave in on the last 4 books and they came out flatter and cleaner than anything I'd done before. Now I keep both on the shelf, paste for conservation work and PVA for the modern stuff, and I feel a little silly about the 25 years of stubbornness. Has anyone else made a late switch like that, or am I the only one who held out that long?