PVA glue disaster on a leather spine last night

I was binding a Shakespeare folio in my garage around 11 PM and the PVA soaked right through my morocco leather, leaving sticky stains everywhere. Had to stop mid-bind and use a heat gun to peel it off before it ruined the whole thing. Anyone else had PVA bleed through on thinner leathers?

3 comments

3 Comments

henryp4013d ago

Yeah I read about this in a book binding forum somewhere, the guy said if the leather is too thin or too porous you gotta water down the PVA a bit or use paste instead. He said the glue soaks in before you can even spread it right. I've seen some old timers swear by adding a tiny bit of methyl cellulose to slow down the soak. But honestly man, once it bleeds through you're pretty much screwed unless you catch it fast like you did. Heat gun was a solid call, I would have probably panicked and made it worse. I think the key is testing the leather with a drop of water first, if it beads up you're good, if it soaks in fast you know to adjust your glue. That's been my rule ever since I ruined a nice piece of goatskin last year.

rowan96913d ago

I remember reading somewhere that some binders actually mix a bit of wallpaper paste into their PVA for porous leathers. Something about the cellulose in the paste giving it more body so it doesn't just vanish into the grain. I tried it once on some cheap split leather and it held up way better than I expected. That water drop test is the real trick though, saved me from wrecking more than a few pieces since I started doing it.

mason_lopez12d agoTop Commenter

Water drop test saved my copy of Petersen's guide too.