Conversation with a retired librarian about repair glue

Ran into a retired librarian at a garage sale last Saturday who was selling old bookbinding equipment. She watched me handle a damaged spine and said I was too quick to reach for PVA. We talked for maybe 20 minutes about how she used wheat paste for certain cloth bindings and why modern glue choices often ruin the next rebind. First time someone actually showed me the long game on reversible hinges instead of just pushing for the strongest adhesive. Has anyone else switched their default paste after talking to someone who worked in the trade for decades?

1 comments

1 Comment

nora_walker5710d ago

The glue myth thing runs deep too, people think archival means strongest but it really means reversible. She basically taught you that a hinge you can pop off later beats a joint that fights you forever. Bet she had some horror stories about polyvinyl acetate nightmares from the 80s.