Swapped from wheat paste to PVA for my cloth covers and never looked back

I used to be a die-hard wheat paste person. For like 3 years I'd make a fresh batch every time I did a cloth binding. It worked fine, smelled like breakfast, but man. The waiting. I'd have to let each layer dry for hours before I could even think about the next step. Last fall I was working on a commission for a guy who wanted 5 matching journals before Christmas. He gave me a November 1st deadline, so I had like 4 weeks. After the first book took me 3 days just on the covers, I about panicked. My mentor Jane from the local bindery shop said just try PVA, it dries faster and holds better. I was skeptical but I tried it on book #2. Night and day. The PVA was tacky in like 20 minutes, no waiting around. And the cloth hasn't bubbled or lifted at all in the 8 months since. Has anyone else had issues with wheat paste taking too long? Or is it just me being impatient?

2 comments

2 Comments

paul2331mo ago

Totally, I tried gelatin once and the whole kitchen smelled like Jell-O for a week.

tara_palmer1mo ago

See, I actually went the other way. PVA always felt too plasticky to me, so I stuck with wheat paste and just got quicker at layering thin coats.