That veteran binder told me I was wasting time with nylon thread...

I always used nylon because it was cheap and easy to find at the craft store. This old guy at a guild meeting in Portland said I'd regret it in 5 years. He was right - I'm opening up bindings I did back in 2018 and the thread is literally slipping and breaking in some spots. Switched to linen last month and it's night and day difference. Has anyone else dealt with nylon degrading over time like that?

2 comments

2 Comments

grantmartinez12d ago

I mean, idk if I totally agree with that. I've got bindings from 2016 still holding up fine with good quality nylon from a specialty supplier, not the craft store stuff. Maybe it's just me but the cheap nylon from Michaels is definitely junk, but there's a middle ground between that and spending big on linen. I've had linen break on me too when I didn't wax it right or the spine was too tight. Honestly, I think a lot of it comes down to prep and how you store your books rather than just the thread type.

bennett.nora12d ago

Prep and storage matter way more than thread type.