TIL a museum conservator said they never use PVA for repairs on old texts

They said the acidity will damage paper over decades, and only use wheat paste. I've been using PVA for everything, including my personal projects. Should we be phasing it out for anything meant to last?

3 comments

3 Comments

lopez.simon9d ago

The Getty Conservation Institute did a big study on adhesives and found PVA can get brittle and yellow in just 20 years. For my own bookbinding, I switched to a mix of methyl cellulose and wheat starch paste for the spine. It's a bit more work but feels safer for anything I want my grandkids to see.

king.wyatt9d ago

PVA is fine for everyday stuff but not for heirlooms. The research shows it breaks down faster than we thought. For projects you want to last, it's worth switching to a reversible paste.

mia7489d ago

That sounds like overkill for personal projects. Most of us aren't making museum pieces that need to last five hundred years. A good quality PVA will probably outlive the person who used it.