Overheard a young binder at the shop say 'PVA is fine for everything' and it got me thinking about how my old mentor would've chewed him out for that...

After 20 years of doing this I've seen too many books fall apart from someone using the wrong glue on leather or vellum, so has anyone else noticed the newer crowd skipping the old tricks like wheat paste blends or do y'all just stick with one adhesive?

3 comments

3 Comments

kelly_west748d ago

Haven't we all seen a wheat paste job go bad in a humid climate though? I've had more luck with a good quality PVA on old leather than trying to get a traditional paste to hold up long term. Plus the prep time for mixing paste and worrying about it molding just isn't worth it for my workflow, especially on customer work that needs to last.

nancyw978d ago

Wheat paste is worth the extra time for old leather, no question.

morganhill8d ago

...and nobody's talking about the smell factor either. PVA has that chemical odor that hangs around for days. Wheat paste is basically flour and water, smells like nothing once it's dry. For vintage leather pieces that already have that old book smell or whatever, I don't want to cover it up with plastic glue stink. Plus wheat paste is reversible way easier if someone messes up down the line. That matters if you're working on something actually old and valuable.