PVC versus leather for book spine repairs on a 1920s novel I restored

I tackled a 1920s novel last month and used PVC for the spine repair on one copy and leather on another, and the leather held up way better after a few weeks of handling. Anyone else have strong feelings about which material wins for durability on older books?

3 comments

3 Comments

miles_burns13d ago

Wait, you actually used PVC for a spine repair on a 1920s book? That's wild. I would have been terrified that stuff would eat through the pages or turn into a sticky mess after a few years.

mark43612d ago

Disagree a bit here. Ive seen PVC go bad on old paper way too often to trust it on something from the 1920s. The plasticizers leach out over time and that sticky mess is real, especially with heat changes. @gracec16 might have gotten lucky with archival grade stuff but most people grab hardware store PVC which is a whole different story. For a 100 year old book Id rather use a good Japanese tissue and wheat paste or a proper archival cloth hinge. That paper is already brittle and PVC just adds a ticking clock to the damage.

gracec1613d ago

Man, I've been there too. I used PVC for a similar repair on a old textbook and it's held up fine for about four years now with no issues. Just make sure you use archival-grade PVC and test it on a corner first to check for any weird reactions.