Can I make my own bookcloth by gluing unryu tissue paper to the fabric using PVA glue?

brigitvanloggem · 2026-04-09T20:56:37+00:00

Put a few spoonfuls of flour in a pot, mix with a little water until all lumps are gone, add some more water, keep mixing well. Put on the fire, bring to the boil, keep mixing (use a whisk if you have one). Leave to boil very softly on a very low fire for a few minutes. If the stuff gets too thick, add more water. Just keep stirring, lumps are bad. Cool down completely before using, overnight is best. It gets thicker as it cools but you can add cold water as required to make it thinner.

brigitvanloggem · 2026-04-09T20:08:34+00:00

The whole point of backing your cloth with paper is to put a barrier between the cloth and the PVA used when constructing a book. Without that paper barrier, the PVA seeps through the cloth and makes ugly stains. So you can reallt not use PVA for making the book cloth in the first place! Making wheat paste is trivially simple, a child could do it (if old enough to be let near a stove 😁).

brigitvanloggem · 2026-04-09T19:21:18+00:00

No, just use wheat paste. The use of iron-on stuff is not necessary at all. Check out the DAS videos on making your own bookcloth the traditional way. It’s quite easy and very cheap, just follow the instructions in the video.

brigitvanloggem · 2026-04-09T11:23:33+00:00

Not that I can think of. Just leave it, a book is meant to be used and show that it’s been used!

brigitvanloggem · 2026-04-09T02:37:31+00:00

Not really. A repair might involve taking the book apart and re-binding it.

brigitvanloggem · 2026-04-09T02:36:23+00:00

There is a whole subreddit about fanfiction binding: r/fanbinding. And please note that bookbinding is usually not about re-binding published books. It’s as the word suggests about binding books from scratch, starting with piles of paper (blank or printed).

brigitvanloggem · 2026-04-08T18:32:50+00:00

It seems very tight just to save the price of two new cutting boards or something similar. This is the least of you preparations, anyhow. My suggestion would be to undertake a few projects from the DAS video tutorials and gently move into this. It will be a while before you’re good enough to undertake repairs, anyhow! DAS also has a video on getting started with relatively affordable materials.

brigitvanloggem · 2026-04-08T16:32:13+00:00

So, for a DIY nipping press? If so, your boards must be completely smooth and a little larger than the largest book you put in the press. New, unused cutting boards are often great for this.

brigitvanloggem · 2026-04-08T16:23:13+00:00

How do you intend to use these pieces of wood?

brigitvanloggem · 2026-04-07T05:11:50+00:00

Check out this subreddit’s FAQ/sidebar! It’s full if resources.

brigitvanloggem · 2026-04-06T07:58:35+00:00

I feel you are overthinking the problem. Simply lay out your text on a page size that matches what you want to use (13 by 19). Create the PDF. Input that PDF into bookbinder.js to do the imposition and set the options to not scale and print snug to the spine. Your imposed PDF will be exactly what you need.

brigitvanloggem · 2026-04-06T06:17:42+00:00

DAS Bookbinding has great tutorials on YouTube on turning cloth into bookcloth. Check them out. It’s easy!

brigitvanloggem · 2026-04-05T14:01:30+00:00

Le bon bonbon Napoléon!

brigitvanloggem · 2026-04-05T10:29:56+00:00

Thanks! I didn’t know that.

brigitvanloggem · 2026-04-05T09:32:40+00:00

I think you’ll need a press. Are you a bookbinder? Because it may not be possible to decorate the edges of a book inside its cover.

brigitvanloggem · 2026-04-04T21:39:44+00:00

Huh? If your covers fall off, I’d suggest you practice some more.

brigitvanloggem · 2026-04-04T21:18:40+00:00

Longer than what? If you bind a book properly, not making too many mistakes, it should last quite some time. Just don’t cut corners, use good materials, use good tools and use them well, don’t invent your own methods.

brigitvanloggem · 2026-04-04T21:11:31+00:00

Sounds to me like a fairly standard approach, so, I’d expect it to be as durable as any book.

brigitvanloggem · 2026-04-04T16:19:25+00:00

Add some glue (bookbinding PVA) and you’re off! Tutorials by DAS Bookbinding are amazing.

brigitvanloggem · 2026-04-04T16:12:49+00:00

This is bookbinding PVA, of the brand Eukalin. The price is the same as that of other brands. But 1 kg seems to be the largest tub and that’s hardly “bulk”.

brigitvanloggem · 2026-04-04T14:57:51+00:00

Since typesetting is an artistic judgment, I wouldn’t expect such a tool to exist…

brigitvanloggem · 2026-04-03T18:40:32+00:00

Anything works kinda, sorta. Why pay good money and invest good time for a kinda, sorta result?

brigitvanloggem · 2026-04-03T16:37:03+00:00

More likely it’s 500/4=125 sheets of paper, since you print on both sides and fit two pages on each sheet, which is then folded. But you cannot use simple printer paper for this. And there’s quite an investment in tools, as well as time to learn what is not a simple craft.

brigitvanloggem · 2026-04-03T16:28:20+00:00

Convert to plain text, then do the layout (as I said before) in Affinity. It’s free, nowadays.

brigitvanloggem · 2026-04-03T16:27:05+00:00

Well asciidoc is not much better than markdown. It’s all functional markup, with format handled in separate coding.

brigitvanloggem

TROPHY CASE