Sophie Atkinson
Assess the Damage Before You Reach for the Glue
Before you mix anything or squeeze out a bead of adhesive, spend five minutes working out what has actually failed. Books rarely break in one place, and gluing the wrong joint simply locks the damage in. Hold the volume closed and look along both hinges – the groove where the board meets the spine. Then open it gently at several points: the title page, the middle, and a place near the end.
You will usually find one of three faults. The first is a detached case, where the spine strip has come away but the textblock is still firmly sewn or glued. The second is a cracked hinge, where the board moves freely and you can see the crash – the coarse cloth that lines the spine – sitting between textblock and cover. The third is a textblock that has separated from the case entirely, usually with a crunching sound as you open it.
- Sound paper: still flexible, cream or lightly toned, no flaking at the edges. Good news – repair is realistic.
- Brittle paper: snaps when you fold a corner, or crumbles at the margins. Repairs will cause more harm than the original damage.
- Damp or mouldy boards: warped covers, a musty smell, dark speckling. Sort the storage conditions first.
Take a photograph of the book open and closed before you start. It gives you something to check alignment against later, and it stops you second-guessing yourself halfway through.
Choosing an Adhesive That Will Still Behave in Ten Years
Bookbinding adhesive needs three qualities: it must stay slightly flexible when dry, it should be pH neutral, and it should allow you to undo the work if you get it wrong. That rules out most of what lives in a kitchen drawer.
- PVA (polyvinyl acetate): the workhorse for paper hinges. Dries clear, grabs within a minute, stays flexible. Buy a bookbinding grade rather than a general craft PVA, which can be acidic. Thin it with a few drops of water to brush out thinly – roughly four parts adhesive to one part water for hinge work.
- Wheat starch paste: slower, gentler, and reversible with a little moisture. Excellent for repairing torn paper and for tissue work, less good for structural joints because it dries hard and takes hours to set.
- Methyl cellulose: useful for consolidating powdery or friable surfaces, but it has no real strength as a structural adhesive.
Please avoid superglue, hot glue, epoxy, rubber cement and sticky tape. They set rigid, they stain, and they will not come off without taking paper with them. A small pot of good PVA costs very little and will repair a shelf of books.
Setting Up a Sensible Workspace
You need a flat, well-lit surface that you do not mind marking, and enough room to lay the book open without propping it against anything. Cover the table with a sheet of polythene or greaseproof paper. Keep a damp cloth and a dry one within reach – PVA wipes off fingers easily while wet, and not at all once it has gone off.
- A fine brush, size 4 to 6, or a cocktail stick for tight spots.
- Waste paper strips to slip between pages.
- Silicone release paper or baking parchment, so your pressing boards do not stick to the book.
- A bone folder for creasing and smoothing.
- Two rigid boards slightly larger than the book, plus a weight – a brick, a stack of tins, or another heavy book.
- Bulldog clips with a strip of card under the jaws to protect the covers.
Work in a warm, dry room. Adhesives behave badly in cold or damp conditions, and PVA should never be allowed to freeze.
Reattaching the Hinge Step by Step
Ease the book open on the table with the textblock supported, so the board you are working on sits at about ninety degrees. Use a cocktail stick to flick out dust and old crumbs of adhesive from the hinge line. Do not dig at the crash or the sewing threads – you want the joint clean, not excavated.
Slip a strip of waste paper between the textblock and the board so adhesive cannot creep onto the page edges. Brush a thin, even line of PVA along the inside of the hinge, working from the middle outwards to the head and tail. Thin is the point: a heavy bead will soak the crash and stiffen the joint. Give it thirty seconds to go tacky.
Close the boards, check the book still squares up, and press it gently flat. Insert wax paper between the boards and the textblock, lay the pressing boards on top, and add your weight. Twenty to thirty minutes is enough to hold the joint; leave the book closed and undistributed for a full day before you open it properly.
Reinforcing a Weak Hinge Without Stiffening It
If the hinge has been broken for a while, the paper may have torn along the fold. A narrow strip of Japanese tissue – tengujo is ideal, or kizukishi for heavier work – laid inside the hinge and pasted down will bridge the tear without adding much bulk. Tear the strip to width rather than cutting it, so the feathered edges blend in.
For a detached spine strip, apply adhesive along the shoulders where the strip meets the boards, press the strip back into position, and run a bone folder lightly along the shoulders. Do not press so hard that you emboss the covering material. A strip of matching cloth or jaconet over the outside spine will hold a worn hollow back together and barely show.
Whichever method you use, aim for support rather than rigidity. A hinge that will not flex at all will crack somewhere else, usually within a year.
Looking After the Repair
Store the book upright on a shelf with others of similar height, so the boards are supported and the textblock is not hanging from the spine. Keep it out of damp rooms and away from direct sun. When you read it, support the boards rather than forcing the volume flat – a folded jumper or a small cushion does the job perfectly.
Check the repaired hinge after a month, and again in six. If it is holding, leave it alone. If it has begun to give, a second thin application of adhesive while the joint is still clean will save you a much larger job later.
