Repair that Book!

Once upon a time, a friend asked me if I could repair his wife's cookbook. He had discovered that I used to work in a library. While working there, I had been trained to do minor book repairs.

I told him I would try.

I spent over $100 getting the supplies to repair that old cookbook, but it was worth it to see his face when I returned the repaired tome. You see, the book was a textbook the wife had used in college--sentimental value. It also happened to be a really good cookbook. They had it put together with strapping tape. (FYI: the pictures of this book are used in this article) The cover was coming off and it was a real pain for them to use.

But it was a darn good cookbook!

To them it was worth the effort getting this book repaired properly.

Thus my book repair service born: Little Red Wagon Book Repair.

Click Here to email Little Red Wagon Book Repair (bookrepair@bellsouth.net)

This experience also reminded me how much I love the feel of an actual book in my hands. It was also good for my soul to fix this book so it could be used.

Do you use a book everyday? Does it have sentimental value?

Examples of books with sentimental value:

1. A cookbook that belonged to your Grandma with handwritten notations.
2. It is the novel that changed your life. You read it every year to renew your spirit.
3. It is the story book that your first child, who is now 30, loved with all his/her heart. Now you want to share it with a grandchild. (The picture here is of my husband reading a book to our granddaughter.)

Examples of books with every day practical value:

1. It is the cookbook that you use everyday and has all of your own personal notations.
2. It is a repair manual for the restored vintage car that you drive.
3. It is your grandbaby's favorite board book and it is the ONLY book he/she wants to read at bedtime.

Most of all (I am repeating myself, I know), consider how much you are willing to spend on getting it fixed. Is that cost worth it to you?

1. Individual pages are falling out or loose.
2. Rips or tears on individual pages.
3. The hinge (see parts of a book illustration) is ripped--or the cover is coming off.
4. Corners of the cover (hardback book) are wearing thin and you can see the cardboard.
5. Corners of a paperback book are curled.
6. End papers (see see parts of a book illustration) are coming out.
7. The spine cover, the joint, etc. (see parts of a book illustration) is torn or coming off.
8. One or more of the signatures (see parts of a book illustration) in the textblock is falling out.

In other words, your favorite cookbook is just falling apart and won't go back together anymore. It is a pain to use. It embarrasses you to use it in front of your mother. On and on.

Do you replace it with a new book? Do you throw it out? Do you try to fix it yourself with duck tape and school glue?

What to do? What to do?

You will need to know the names for the parts of a book.

Packing tape is ugly, but it can hold a book together. That way all the notes you wrote by the recipes will not be lost forever. However, packing tape is ugly! It also is not meant to fix a book and will not hold up to constant use.

White school glue (like Elmer's) is not flexible enough. Using it will make the pages stiff. But if this does not matter to you, go ahead and use it.

I have a friend who owns a used book store and uses Tacky Glue. He swears by it.

I bought some myself to test it out. It dries very flexible -- not stiff and hard. I have decided it is not good for repairing torn pages inside a book itself. I would use another PVA glue(click to see what this is).

Mending a torn page is something easy you can do to save a book. Instructions to mend a page.

If a book is valuable, the best way to mend a torn page is using Japanese paper. Book suppliers can sell you a variety of Japanese papers. The most common used is called Sekishu. To repair the page, apply a small amount of glue to where the torn ends are aligned. Tear off a piece of Japanese paper and lay it over the tear. (The Japanese paper looks more natural if torn as opposed to cutting.) If you slightly dampen the paper before you tear it, the edges are more frayed and blend better on the page. The Japanese paper is thin enough that you can still see through it to read the text but it is also very strong.

Another way to repair a tear is to use PVA glue. See the "torn page repair" video instructions below.

Create For Less sells a product called "Lineco Neutral pH Adhesive". This is a good glue. You can go to their website by clicking the image on the left above. Then do a product search using the term "adhesive".

1. Open the book to the place where the pages belong.
   
2. Place a thin bead of glue along the crack of the spine.
   
3. Carefully place the page(s) back into place, taking care to align the edges of the page with the edges of adjacent pages. To prevent glue "ooze" from making the book hard to open, place a strip of waxed paper on each side of the glued section, at the glued edge.
   
4. Close the book.
   
5. Wipe away any excess glue.
   
6. Place the book under several heavier books to press it while it dries.
   
7. Wait 3 or more hours for the glue to dry before opening the book.
   

Sometimes it is cheaper to buy a new book. But if the book was your grandmother's, chances are it is not in print any longer.

There are people and companies out there that do know how to fix your book, but it can be costly. Do an internet search to find someone. Usually, the companies that pop up want to rebind the book. Yikes!! Big bucks.

Family Bibles are another kind of book that people want to save. Be prepared to fork out the dough (or communion waffers). But all that $$ is worth it if you want to preserve your book.