Thought I found a shortcut with PVA glue, ended up with warped boards

I tried using straight PVA glue for a full cloth case binding on a 300-page journal about three weeks ago. Figured it would save me time messing with paste blends. By day two, the boards had bowed so bad the covers wouldn't close flat. Lesson learned the hard way: always cut your PVA with a little methylcellulose, especially for larger projects. Anybody else ever had a binding go sideways from a shortcut like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

adams.vera1mo ago

Read somewhere that some old school binders actually add a tiny bit of honey or sugar to their PVA to slow down the drying time, which reduces warping. Supposedly it works because the sugar keeps the glue from setting too fast and pulling on the paper. I tried it once on a test cover with a drop of corn syrup and it did seem to help a little, though I'm not sure I'd trust it on anything valuable. Your methylcellulose trick is probably safer and more consistent, especially for a thick book like that. The warping on my test piece eventually settled down after a few weeks, but it never laid perfectly flat, so I feel your pain on that one.

jade7381mo ago

Yeah but you used it straight up? Like full strength out of the bottle? Because I've made that mistake before too but it was on a much smaller project, a little 100 page sketchbook. The warping wasn't as bad as what you're describing but the covers definitely didnt lay flat. What kind of PVA were you using though? Some of that cheap craft store stuff is way too thick right out of the container so it pulls the paper too hard when it dries. I've had better luck with the PH neutral bookbinding PVA you can get online, its thinner and seems to shrink less. Still though, even with the good stuff, I always cut it with a bit of water or methylcellulose now. Did the boards stay bowed or did they eventually flatten out some after a few weeks?

graceprice2d ago

Honey? You put honey in bookbinding glue? That's wild, I've never heard that one before. Doesn't it attract bugs or get weird and sticky over time? I gotta say, I've taken shortcuts with glue before but that takes the cake.