Watched a restorer at a library fix a torn map with Japanese tissue and wheat paste last Tuesday

He said 'modern tape is the enemy of paper' and now I've tossed every roll of scotch tape from my bench. Has anyone else switched to wheat paste for mending tears or am I just late to the party?

3 comments

3 Comments

juliashah22d ago

Read somewhere that Japanese paper is so strong it could outlast modern books by centuries.

gavin69222d ago

Whoa, wait. That can't be right. Modern books use all that acid-free paper and binding glue, I thought that was supposed to last forever. Like, I've got paperbacks from 20 years ago that are already yellow and falling apart. Japanese paper is that much tougher? I guess they've been making it for hundreds of years though, so they must know what they're doing with those long fibers and natural materials. How is the stuff they make now compared to the old handmade kind?

grantmartinez21d ago

@gavin692, I switched to Japanese paper for journals years ago. Still going strong.