Leather-bound books are a few of the highest quality, most expensive and most desirable kinds of books available. As the leather dries and also a book is handled, it’s vulnerable to damage. Book repair is difficult and requires ability for the best results. If you have a valuable publication, you should never attempt repairs yourself unless you are trained in reserve conservation, since you can hurt the value of the book. When a damaged leather book has only sentimental or decorative value only, there are a number of things which you can do in order to better its problem.
Touch and examine the book cover. If it’s overly hard, it requires coating with a product called a leather conditioner. Should you touch the book and it leaves a red powder on your hands, the book has a condition called red rot. You will find products you can apply to the book that treat and safeguard against this particular condition.
Open the covers to determine whether they’re loose. If the spine and covers are in good shape but are loose, ripping or ripped, they can be mended with rice paper.
Tear two strips of Japanese rice paper. Rice paper, really made from mulberry, is best used for books smaller than 10 inches tall and 1 1/2 inches thick. The paper strips have to be wide enough to cover the damaged region, and it’s best if both sides of the strip would be torn rather than cut. The paper should also match the colours of the cover; you also require a single strip to match the outside and you to match the interior.
Coat 1 side of each paper strip using polyvinyl acetate, an adhesive, with a brush. The adhesive has to be thin and evenly spread. You can thin the PVA with water using wheat paste. Smooth the paper strips above the ripped area, one on the outside of the cover and one on the interior, and wipe off any excess glue. The rough edges of the paper can be smoothed into the leather and will blend in if the colors match well.
Place a heavy item on the repair to prevent the paper from wrinkling as it dissolves. You can put a bit of plastic, such as vinyl wrap, above the paper to make sure that you don’t accidentally glue the paper into the item or put a piece within the book to prevent gluing pages together.
Protect the leather and your repair. You will find protectors and dressings available for leather, leather and leather books particularly.