Week of Feb. 3, 2014
Another repair. Ghost Towns of Colorado.
TS asked me if I could repair this book, with a note, "Please save, if possible."
As you can see, these endsheets have cool photos, but were quite damaged, partly from acidic paper, but also from library tape, stickers, due date slips and envelope glue. I decided to give it a try.
I learned, from working in the conservation lab at UW-Madison Memorial Library, to remove glued-on paper you should try methyl cellulose. Basically, it's wallpaper paste, but also an inert, low tack, removable glue. Methyl cellulose is a versatile tool in book repair, conservation and bookbinding. You can add it to your PVA glue to lengthen the drying time when you're doing detail work. It can be used straight as a glue to attach book plates which can be removed easily by wetting the plate with water.
For book repair, we use it to loosen old glues and remove glued paper. So I applied the methyl cellulose to the endsheets on the boards. It took some time (hours) before the paper started to come loose. I used my micro spatula to gently lift off the paper.
Another repair. Ghost Towns of Colorado.
TS asked me if I could repair this book, with a note, "Please save, if possible."
I learned, from working in the conservation lab at UW-Madison Memorial Library, to remove glued-on paper you should try methyl cellulose. Basically, it's wallpaper paste, but also an inert, low tack, removable glue. Methyl cellulose is a versatile tool in book repair, conservation and bookbinding. You can add it to your PVA glue to lengthen the drying time when you're doing detail work. It can be used straight as a glue to attach book plates which can be removed easily by wetting the plate with water.
For book repair, we use it to loosen old glues and remove glued paper. So I applied the methyl cellulose to the endsheets on the boards. It took some time (hours) before the paper started to come loose. I used my micro spatula to gently lift off the paper.
The boards were too acidic and crumbling to keep, but I wanted to retain the look of an older book. I had a discarded Guideposts volume, which was about the size I needed. The only problem was the title on the cover. I carefully cut out the Guideposts title with an exacto knife, and printed a new title to insert in its place.
I used a bit of my metallic coloring to make it look not-quite-new.
I even found the original spine piece underneath some book repair tape, so I reattached it to the new spine.
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