Tried using PVA glue instead of wheat paste on a cloth spine and it soaked right through...

I was working on a little journal last weekend, nothing fancy just a practice run for a friend's birthday. Thought I'd save time by using PVA instead of mixing up wheat paste for the spine lining. Big mistake. The glue bled right through the cloth and left these dark shiny spots that won't come out. Learned that wheat paste gives you way more working time and doesn't soak in like that. Has anyone else had this happen with a specific cloth type?

3 comments

3 Comments

lunaf677d ago

Ugh yeah that exact thing happened to me with some cheap cotton bookcloth from a craft store. The PVA just turned it into a sticky mess and left those gross shiny patches. I learned the hard way that some fabrics just soak up glue way too fast, especially thin ones. Now I always test a tiny scrap first before committing to the whole spine.

grace895d ago

The trick for me was switching to a paste or a starch mix for thin cotton fabrics. PVA is too wet for that porous stuff. And @miles_young59, it's not just glue on cloth when the glue bleeds through and ruins the whole cover. A 50/50 mix of PVA and methyl cellulose worked way better for me, dries slower and doesn't soak in as fast.

miles_young597d ago

Man, it's just glue on cloth. You're overthinking this.