Old timer at a coffee shop in Portland showed me why I was ruining my leather bindings

Guy saw me working on a book at the shop and just came over. Said I was using way too much water when I was paring my leather. Told me ABSOLUTELY not to wet it more than a quick pass with a damp sponge. Said I was basically cooking the leather fibers. I brushed him off at first but tried his way on my next project and the difference was NIGHT and day. Has anyone else had some random stranger call them out on a bad habit and it actually worked?

2 comments

2 Comments

fiona_young23d ago

Wait, are you telling me I've been waterboarding my leather bindings this whole time? I mean, I'm not even a bookbinder, I just mess around with it as a hobby, so that old timer probably would've had a field day with my soggy mess.

john_cooper23d ago

Oh jeez @fiona_young, you're drowning those poor bindings.