An old restorer at a shop in Chicago told me to never use PVA glue on leather hinges and I ignored him for a year until one literally crumbled in my hands

After that hinge fell apart I had to redo the whole spine on a clients 1920s poetry collection, has anyone else learned the hard way that some adhesives just don't mix with specific materials?

3 comments

3 Comments

sam_thomas19d ago

Oh man, guess that old restorer traded his advice for a gravestone and a smug look while you were left picking up the pieces. Nothing like a 1920s poetry book crumbling in your hands to make you a true believer in hide glue.

joel_butler25d ago

I read once that a guy at a restoration conference said PVA is basically just waterbased glue and it breaks down with age on porous things like leather. My own experience with a broken book spine made me switch to animal hide glue for hinges and never look back. That old restorer in Chicago probably knew what he was talking about even if it took a wrecked project to get me to listen.

the_alice25d ago

Three restorers I know who work at the Smithsonian told me the exact opposite @joel_butler, that today's PVAs actually outlast hide glue on leather because they don't attract mold or insects like the old stuff does.