PVA vs wheat paste on a leather spine repair I did last weekend

I was fixing an old 1800s hymnal for a friend and I got stuck deciding between PVA glue and wheat paste for the spine lining. I have always used PVA for everything because it dries fast and holds strong. But I kept reading that wheat paste is better for old fragile paper because it stays flexible and won't crack over time. I ended up going with wheat paste for the spine and PVA for the board attachment. The wheat paste took forever to dry, like a whole 12 hours before I could move on. The spine feels nice and soft though, not stiff at all. Has anyone else mixed glues like that on a project and had it work out?

3 comments

3 Comments

sean_cooper581mo ago

Ha! So you basically gave that book a glue cocktail and hoped it wouldn't fight back. (I've done the same thing, honestly, just with less patience.) Sounds like you found a decent middle ground though - wheat paste for the flexible parts, PVA for the stuff that needs to actually hold. At least if the spine cracks in ten years, you can blame the glue instead of your technique (which is my favorite kind of problem, really).

simonp761mo ago

Oh man, mixing glues is the only real way to go on old books! I did the same on a 1900s Bible last year and it's still holding up fine. Wheat paste for the spine and PVA for the boards is basically the cheat code for old fragile books.

jamie9401mo ago

Is it really that deep though, lol.