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Watched a conservator at the Boston Athenaeum fix a torn page with wheat paste, and I finally get why my PVA keeps cracking
She showed me how the paste stays flexible while PVA dries stiff on old paper, so now I'm mixing my own starch paste for anything pre-1900, has anyone else made the switch?
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william_craig79d ago
Wait, people are still using PVA on old paper in the first place? I thought that stuff was mostly for bookbinding repairs where you actually want a hard, stiff bond, not for fragile pages that need to move with changes in humidity. Wheat paste makes sense for pre-1900 paper because it stays flexible and can be reversed later with water if someone needs to undo the repair, while PVA just locks everything down forever and cracks when the paper flexes. I made the switch years ago and never looked back, though I will admit the paste takes some getting used to since it sets slower and you have to cook it yourself. The trick is getting the consistency right, too thick and it dries shiny, too thin and it soaks the paper and stains it. Just do not expect it to hold like glue on a modern paperback, because that is a totally different job.
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