The day my sewing machine needle snapped on a 200-year-old folio was the moment I realized I'd been using the wrong thread all along

A conservator at the Met told me I needed unwaxed linen thread after I showed her my work, and now I'm questioning every book I've bound in the last 5 years - anyone else had a basic material swap totally change their results?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_anthony8d ago

Wait, you're telling me waxed thread is actually bad for archival stuff?

william_garcia8d ago

@the_anthony tell me about it, I once bound my entire bookshelf with candlewick.

blair_taylor327d ago

And then you realize down the road that candlewick actually holds moisture like crazy and now your books are all warped! I made that mistake with a set of old paperbacks and they ended up getting these weird wavy pages after a few months. It's wild how something that seems totally fine at first can mess with your stuff long term.