Chat with a retired binder in Portland made me rethink glue

Met a guy at Powell's who's been binding since the 70s. He said PVA isn't always the answer for older paper. Told me about a 1920s book he repaired with wheat paste instead. Anyone else switch up adhesives based on the paper age?

3 comments

3 Comments

seanlee15h ago

Grabbed a vintage sci-fi paperback at an estate sale last year, pages were brown and brittle. Tried my usual PVA and it just crinkled the edges something terrible. Ended up using a gelatin mix a buddy from a print shop suggested. Held together fine and didn't mess with the paper's feel at all. Makes you wonder how many old books get wrecked by folks just grabbing the first bottle off the shelf.

evan_burns957h agoTop Commenter

Oh man that gelatin trick is wild! I actually read somewhere that old school bookbinders used to use gelatin and animal glues all the time before synthetic stuff took over. Something about how the protein structure bonds better with degraded paper fibers since they're both organic materials or whatever. Makes total sense why PVA would fight you on brittle pages it's just too stiff and plastic-y for stuff that's already falling apart. Your buddy from the print shop must know their stuff though because that's not common knowledge at all

emery_lopez7h ago

Hang on, I gotta push back a little. Gelatin's great for specific things but PVA isn't the enemy here. Modern PVA has different formulations, some are actually flexible and acid-free. The issue is people grab the cheap school glue or hardware store PVA which is way too stiff and turns yellow over time. Archivists use PVA blends all the time for brittle paper, you just need the right product. Gelatin can also swell and warp paper if you don't get the concentration exact, plus it's way more susceptible to mold and humidity changes. Not saying your buddy is wrong, but PVA isn't automatically the bad guy.