Unpopular opinion: using PVA glue for everything is a mistake

I always used PVA for all my bookbinding projects, thinking it was the best all-rounder. Then I tried a batch of books with a fabric spine last month and the glue bled right through, ruining the cover. Someone at a shop in Brooklyn told me to try wheat paste for that kind of job, and now I'm wondering what else I've been doing backwards. Do you stick to one glue type or switch based on the materials?

2 comments

2 Comments

hernandez.morgan1mo ago

I was totally a PVA-for-everything person too. But last year I bound a sketchbook with handmade cotton paper and the PVA made it ripple like crazy. A friend at the Brooklyn Book Festival told me to try paste for delicate stuff. Now I use wheat paste for paper on paper and PVA only for heavy boards. It's like having two tools instead of one.

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emery8791mo ago

Wheat paste fixed my cockled pages too, total game changer.