Do-it-yourself book restoration according to all the rules

2024 Author: Priscilla Miln | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 00:21

Paper books and albums with photographs or reproductions of paintings are available in any home. As soon as we bring any printed matter into the house, it smells like printing inks and freshness. But it is worth reading the book several times - there are bends on the pages and various pollution. And if you look at the library of your parents, you will surely find that almost all copies need repair and maintenance. Don't panic, book restoration can be done at home.

Materials and preparatory work

How to start the revival of the book? Carefully inspect the selected instance and try to outline a rough work plan. In fact, this is a very exciting activity - the restoration of books. You can create real miracles with your own hands, without special equipment and experience.

If you need to repair or replace your binding, take care of it firstpages. Prepare in advance for work:

• sharp stationery knife;
• scissors;
• PVA glue;
• paper of different density (for example, for printer and whatman paper);
• cardboard.

Most likely, these materials will be enough for you, but it all depends on the initial state of the book, sometimes you may also need some auxiliary tools and tools.

Book Restoration: Drying After Rain Workshop

From early childhood, we are told that most of all books are afraid of dirt and moisture. Indeed, wet pages are deformed, and if the print was of insufficient quality, then the ink may even smear. How to save a wet book at home?

Take filtered paper and lay it on wet pages, sprinkled with talc or crushed chalk beforehand. In this form, the book must be placed under a press (a stack of heavy books or boards) and left to dry. After a while, remove the filter paper and place the book open like a fan.

Finally, iron the pages with an iron (heating in the “synthetics” position), also shifting them with paper. Attention: you can not dry books near heaters or central heating radiators, but you can carefully blow the pages with a hairdryer.

How to remove difficult stains

If the cover of a book gets dirty while reading, it should be washed. It is very good if it is bound with leather, its substitute orother material that is not afraid of water. Take a damp cloth or prepare a soapy solution and soak a cotton swab in it.

If you need to clean the corners of the binding or the edges of the pages, rub them with a soft eraser or a piece of white bread. If the dirt is too strong, you can try to get rid of it with fine sandpaper.

Restoration of books should be carried out with a complete cleaning of the pages. Before you start removing stains, you should understand what exactly they came from:

• gasoline, specialized solvents or ordinary chalk will help to cope with greasy contaminants;
• stearin is easiest to remove with cologne or other alcohol-containing solution;
• blood is removed with a weak solution of hydrogen peroxide, rust with citric acid;
• To remove difficult stains such as ink, cosmetics and food that have a bright color, it is best to use special household chemicals, following the instructions exactly.

Page Warping

Restoration of books, albums, notebooks may also include page straightening. If they are wrinkled or not properly dried, a regular iron will help fix the situation. Lay out the pages with clean sheets of paper and iron on medium heat.

If you still can't fix it, there is another method. Moisten the filter paper with water using a cotton swab and place it on a dry sheet. Place such sheets on both sides of the damaged sheet and iron with an iron. If necessaryyou can repeat the procedure several times, changing the filter paper.

Bookbinding

Librarians' biggest concern is damage to covers, endpapers and the binding itself. But do not worry, even in this case, the restoration of books can be carried out at home:

1. Take the book apart carefully - remove the binding.
2. Cut out endpapers from special paper or plain paper for printer.
3. Prepare 2 sheets to decorate the inside of the cover.
4. Glue the endpapers in place and you're ready to start binding.
5. If there are blocks that have fallen out, they must be sewn or glued in place.
6. Glue starched gauze along the spine of the book.
7. We dry the finished structure under pressure.

The next step is assembly. Glue the binding and cover to their rightful place. At the end, you can once again place the book under the press. But the restoration of books may include the complete replacement of all external elements - binding, cover and flyleaf, if necessary.