Can we talk about using PVA vs. wheat paste for spine lining?

I was having a problem with my quarter-bound notebooks getting stiff and cracking at the hinge after a few months. My old teacher swore by pure wheat paste for flexibility, but I tried a 50/50 mix of PVA and paste on a batch of 20 books last fall. The spines stayed way more flexible and none have cracked yet, even with heavy use. Some folks in my local guild say the PVA will yellow and fail over time, but I'm seeing the opposite so far. Has anyone else run a long-term test on this mix, or is there a better hybrid glue you'd recommend?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_sage2d agoMost Upvoted

Honestly your 50/50 mix is probably the sweet spot. Pure PVA does get brittle, and pure wheat paste can be a bit weak for some spines. That hybrid gives you the best of both. The yellowing thing with PVA is real over decades, but for a book you're actually using, flexibility now is way more important. My own "long term test" is a bunch of repair jobs from the 90s where someone used straight PVA and the spines are all snapped. So much for archival claims.

jana_davis902d ago

Ugh, that's such a bummer to see.