A chat with a librarian made me stop using PVA for old paper

I was at the local library book sale last week and got talking to their head archivist. She saw me pick up a 1920s novel and said, 'If you're fixing that, skip the PVA, it's too stiff. Try wheat starch paste, it lets the paper move.' I'd always used PVA because it's strong. But she showed me a repaired ledger where the PVA had made the pages brittle. I'm going to give her way a shot on my next repair. Has anyone else switched glues for older books?

2 comments

2 Comments

karent7511d ago

Honestly, that's a really good point about letting the paper move. I've heard wheat starch paste is the standard for a reason. Did the archivist mention how it handles humidity changes compared to PVA? Like, if a book swells a bit in summer, does the paste give enough to prevent a new tear? I'm just thinking about long-term effects here.

clairepark11d ago

That point about humidity is why it works, @karent75. The paste stays flexible so the paper can swell and shrink without cracking.