Stopped using PVA glue for everything after a book fell apart in my hands

I had this old novel I rebound last year and it literally split down the spine when I picked it up last week. Turns out PVA gets brittle over time on certain paper types, and a guy at a binding workshop in Portland said I should switch to EVA or wheat paste for stuff that needs to flex. Anyone else have a glue preference that saved their work?

3 comments

3 Comments

keith_bennett9h ago

Oh man I feel your pain, that same thing happened to me with a perfect bound paperback I did for a friend. Switch to straight EVA for most things but keep a jar of wheat paste handy for when you need that extra flexibility, it's saved my bindings more than once.

paulw538h ago

The real trick nobody talks about is testing your glue on the paper first. Different papers absorb adhesive completely different. I had a batch of coated stock that just laughed at my usual EVA mix, nothing would stick to it. Had to switch to a PVA blend with a tackifier just to get it to hold. The paper you're using matters way more than the glue recipe sometimes. Run a quick test on a scrap piece before you commit to the whole project, saves a lot of headache later.

patricia26212h ago

Dropped a whole stack of sheet music once because the binding literally gave out mid-air, felt like a fool standing there with pages everywhere. Switched to a mix of EVA and wheat paste for my music books and haven't looked back since. The wheat paste adds that little bit of give so the spine can actually bend without cracking like old plastic. My first attempt with the paste was a sticky disaster though, got it all over my fingers and the cat tried to eat some.