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I thought starch paste was too fussy for cloth repairs until I compared my 2019 test boards to last week's
I used to grab PVA for every cloth reback because it was fast and I had it on the bench already. Back in 2019 I did a split-board repair on a heavy 1890s family Bible with straight PVA and it felt stiff right away, but I handed it off and forgot about it. The owner brought it back last week because the hinge was cracking again and the cloth had gone shiny and hard where the paste should flex. Meanwhile a test board I did the same month with wheat starch paste still opens flat with no crack at the joint, 6 years later. So I've switched, and now I cook a small batch of paste every Sunday night even for small jobs. Anybody else keep a jar going in the fridge, and how long before it turns on you?
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grantt3928d ago
Cooked my first batch of wheat starch paste last month and felt like a pretentious chef stirring a tiny pot of glue, so you are not alone in the Sunday night ritual. Mine lasted about two weeks in the fridge before it got watery and started smelling like old socks, so now I just make small batches and toss what I do not use. Six years of flex versus a cracked hinge says plenty, and I am not going back to PVA for rebacks either.
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