Finally figured out why my endpapers kept wrinkling (it was a humidity thing)

I've been bookbinding for about 8 months now, mostly just making journals for myself and gifts, you know? But the endpapers on my last three projects kept coming out all bubbly and wrong. I was about ready to give up, then I found this old bookbinding forum post from 2017 that said the glue's open time changes with humidity. Sure enough, my basement workshop was at 70% humidity that day. Forced myself to wait for a drier week and used a dehumidifier, and bam - flat endpapers for the first time. Has anyone else run into humidity wrecking their paste or PVA work?

3 comments

3 Comments

spencer_owens5826d ago

Threw a damp sponge in a ziploc bag next to my glue pot and it fixed everything.

emma_flores26d agoMost Upvoted

My friend Jenna tried this with her old white glue and said it bought her another six months of use.

patricia_gonzalez25d ago

@spencer_owens58 that sponge trick actually works, I used a similar setup in my garage and it helped keep the PVA from grabbing too fast.