Had a brand new EVA glue blow up on me mid-project yesterday

I was rebinding a 1960s textbook from a local library and the PVA decided to go lumpy halfway through gluing the spine. The stuff was only 3 weeks old, stored in my basement at 65 degrees, but it felt like cottage cheese on the brush. Had to scrap the whole text block and start over with a fresh batch from a different supplier. Anybody else have trouble with certain brands of PVA going bad way faster than they should?

2 comments

2 Comments

victorcoleman1mo ago

You ever tried warming it up in a bowl of hot water before you use it? I had a bottle of Lineco PVA go thick on me last year about a month after I opened it. Tossed the bottle in a sink full of hot tap water for ten minutes and stirred it with a chopstick. Came back smooth as new and I finished the whole job without any lumps. If it's real bad you might need to strain it through pantyhose but that's a pain. I started buying smaller bottles too so I never have a half-used batch sitting around for more than a couple weeks.

the_gavin1mo ago

Used to think warming PVA was some bookbinder wives' tale but you might be onto something with the hot water trick. I always tossed lumpy glue and figured it was just bad luck with the batch, never bothered trying to fix it. Gonna give that a shot next time instead of wasting a whole bottle.