I know everyone says to never use a hot glue gun on a spine, but it saved a project for me yesterday.

The PVA just wouldn't set on this old leather, so I ran a thin bead of hot glue down the mull and it held perfectly. Has anyone else found a weird shortcut that actually works?

4 comments

4 Comments

foster.jordan2mo ago

Honestly, that sounds like a future conservation nightmare waiting to happen (hot glue can get really brittle and yellow). I'd be worried about the long-term damage to that old leather, even if it worked right now. Sometimes the standard methods are slow for a good reason.

jana8812mo ago

Wasn't there a whole thing about how some hot glues are acid free now? I saw a video where a binder said they use a low-temp one for quick fixes on modern stuff. It's still a risk, but maybe not the total disaster we were all taught.

spencer4002mo ago

That binder's video got me looking into it. The acid-free ones are still mostly vinyl acetate, which gets brittle and fails in like 10-15 years. It's a temporary patch at best.

shane_hayes1mo ago

Wait is @spencer400 right about vinyl acetate being the main ingredient even in the "acid-free" stuff? That kinda throws the whole "archival safe" claim out the window if it's still gonna crumble in a decade.