Warning: I see a lot of people using way too much glue on their spines

I was helping my cousin rebind a cookbook from the 70s and she just slathered the spine with PVA like it was peanut butter. The book dried stiff as a board and won't open flat. I learned from an old binder in my town that you only need a thin, even coat, maybe a quarter inch wide, to hold the signatures. If you use too much, it seeps into the pages and ruins the whole thing. Has anyone else had to fix a book that was glued too tight?

3 comments

3 Comments

masonbell25d ago

Oh man, "slathered the spine with PVA like it was peanut butter" is such a perfect way to put it lol. I can just picture someone going at it with a butter knife. That book must feel like a brick now. It's a shame because you can't even fix a sandwich that over-stuffed, let alone a book.

matthew_hart2522d ago

My old copy of Lord of the Rings got the peanut butter treatment from a well-meaning friend. I let it dry for a full week, then slowly worked the spine back and forth for a few minutes each night. It took about two weeks, but it finally loosened up enough to read again without cracking.

torres.mark24d ago

I used to think more glue was better for book repair until I ruined a 1978 copy of Dune the same way. Seeing that peanut butter comment from @masonbell really hits home now. It's a solid brick of paper and regret, can't even open it past page 50. You learn the hard way that a thin line does the job, anything more and you've just made a doorstop.