Pro tip: waxing your thread changed my whole approach to sewing

I was talking to a guy at a bindery meetup in Columbus last month, and he said something that stuck with me. He told me "if your thread isn't waxed right, you're fighting the book from the start." I had always just used whatever came with my kit, but after trying his method of beeswax with a little pressure, my stitching feels way smoother and more consistent. Has anyone else found a specific wax blend that works better for certain spine sizes?

3 comments

3 Comments

evan_burns958d ago

Three years ago I switched to a blend of beeswax and a tiny bit of pine resin and I haven't looked back... it's a game changer for those thicker spines where the thread wants to bunch up.

henrycooper8d agoMost Upvoted

Whoa, slow down there with the beeswax and pine resin talk! You're making me feel real guilty over here still using the basic wax block that came with my starter kit three years ago. I bet your threads don't even know what bunching means, they're too busy being all smooth and fancy on those thick spines. Meanwhile mine are throwing a little tantrum every time I hit a signature section.

the_cameron4d ago

Dude @evan_burns95 is absolutely right about that pine resin trick... I stumbled onto a similar mix last year when I was binding some really thick board spines and my thread kept snapping on me. Tried a 4:1 beeswax to pine resin ratio after I saw a bookbinder on YouTube doing it, and now my stitches glide through those dense signatures like butter. The grip from the resin makes a huge difference on anything over a half inch thick.