Tried PVA glue instead of wheat paste on a rebind and instantly regretted it

I was rebinding a 1980s paperback last weekend and figured PVA would hold up better long term, but the paper started buckling within 10 minutes and the spine looked like a wrinkled potato. Wheat paste gave me way more working time to adjust everything, and it dried flat without any drama. Do you guys ever experiment with different adhesives on older paperbacks, or is that a disaster waiting to happen?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_ryan19d ago

Man I used to be all about PVA for everything, thought wheat paste was too old school and messy. But the first time I tried it on a beat up old fantasy novel from the 70s it made me think twice. The paper was so dry and fragile the PVA just sat on top and wrinkled everything up. Wheat paste soaked in nice and slow and gave me ages to shift things around. I actually started mixing a little wheat paste into my PVA for older paperbacks now, gives you that longer open time without being totally stuck with the paste. Your potato spine comment hit home though, I had a book come out looking like a raisin one time and learned my lesson fast.

riverreed19d ago

Okay so did your raisin book have that crinkly spine leather that just crumbles if you breathe on it wrong? I found this old Hardy Boys from the 60s, the cover was alligator skin basically. Tried a light sanding and then a thin coat of paste, let it dry slow under some weights. Came out flat but you could still see the texture. Kinda looked cool actually. Not perfect but at least it didn't look like a dried up worm anymore.