Old timer at a trade show told me to switch from PVA to starch paste for leather hinges

A retired binder with 40 years experience pulled me aside at a convention and insisted starch paste was the only way to go for leather hinges because PVA would eventually dry and crack. I tried it on a restoration job for a 1901 Bible and three months later the hinge was still soft and had no adhesion at all. Has anyone else had bad luck switching to traditional paste on older leather books?

3 comments

3 Comments

miller.emery1mo ago

1901 Bible huh? I tried that same swap on a 1920s hymnal and three weeks later the hinge felt like a wet cracker that someone had glued with Elmer's and left in a damp basement. The old timer probably meant well but his advice was about as useful as telling a mechanic to fix a fuel injector with a hammer and a prayer. Starch paste is great for certain things but not when you need a hinge that actually holds a book together for more than a coffee break.

lilya761mo ago

I mean, I gotta push back a little here @miller.emery because I've actually had pretty solid luck with starch paste on old hinges. I restored a 1910 family Bible a couple years back that was literally hanging on by threads and a prayer, and that paste is still holding strong today. Maybe the hymnal had some kind of weird treatment on the paper or someone before you messed with it using something like PVA that didn't fully dry? I've found if you let the paste cure for a full week with the book under weight and not touching it at all, it sets up way better than any modern glue I've tried. Not saying your experience is wrong but maybe the prep work or drying time was off.

riley_wood841mo ago

Not gonna lie @lilya76, I think you're overthinking it... it's just a hinge, not brain surgery.