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I finally gave in and tried that 'wrong' glue for my leather spine repairs

A binder at the Seattle guild meetup last month said she'd been using PVA for minor leather rebacks for years, and after my hide glue failed on a 1920s poetry collection, I tried it and the flexibility is just better, so what's your go-to adhesive for old leather that needs to move?

3 comments

3 Comments

christopher_roberts292mo ago

Guess we're all heretics now. My go-to is just whatever doesn't make the cover fall off in my hands.

aaron7081mo ago

Totally get that. Had the same thing happen with a 1908 hymnal, and a wheat starch paste mix just works so much better for me now.

clairer792mo ago

Wait, you used hide glue on a 1920s book? That's wild! I thought everyone switched to something more flexible for anything past the 1800s. PVA makes way more sense for keeping that leather moving.