That week I tried PVA glue instead of wheat paste on a whole project

I was binding a short run of 5 poetry books last month and ran out of wheat paste on day 2. Decided to just go all in with PVA for the spine and covers since I was too lazy to make more paste. Anyone else had better luck with one glue over the other for certain projects?

3 comments

3 Comments

carr.lee6d ago

Five years ago I did a run of 30 chapbooks with straight PVA and the spines all cracked within six months. Real mess when the pages started falling out in stacks. Wheat paste has that slight flexibility that moves with the paper as it dries and ages, whereas PVA sets up like rigid plastic. If you ever need to open those books flat for reading or scanning, the PVA spine is going to fight you the whole way. I keep both glues on my shelf, but for anything with paper that needs to bend or breathe, wheat paste wins every time.

the_max6d agoMost Upvoted

Sounds like you learned that the hard way, same thing happened to me with a batch of 50.

the_miles6d ago

Used to swear by PVA for everything, but your story lines up with what I've seen too. Wheat paste really does let the paper move as it ages, that flexibility makes all the difference. Definitely reconsidering my whole glue shelf after reading this.