Anyone here know how to repair a book?

[MsMary]

That's really pathetic, MsMary. I can't remember (and am too lazy to read the first page of this thread...) -- are these hardback books?

The first one's a hardback, the second one's a paperback.

[MsMary]

You know, the paperback book looks as though it could be repaired with a simple glue job. Any reason why I shouldn't use Elmer's glue? The book only needs to be functional, not pretty.

[aliantha]

Try Elmer's. If it doesn't work, move on to Plan B.

I am all about being functional....

[Cybrweez]

A problem I find w/hardcovers, is standing them upright. Gravity will work its toll and pull the top of the pages away from the binding, b/c the pages themselves don't rest on anything, just the hardcover does, which is bigger than the pages themselves. So you must either get something under the pages themselves, so they rest on something, or don't stand them upright (or, have the pages pull away from the binding). My problem, I like them upright, looks nicer, but too much work to find something adequate to have pages rest on.

[Avatar]

I don't like hard-covers. Avoid them where possible. But then, my books are all well-thumbed, oft-repaired ones. As long as the pages stay (mostly) together and they're readable, I'm happy. (I do hate torn covers though.)

--A

[MsMary]

Try Elmer's. If it doesn't work, move on to Plan B.

I am all about being functional....

Have you ever actually used Elmer's to fix a book?

[Cagliostro]

You know, the paperback book looks as though it could be repaired with a simple glue job. Any reason why I shouldn't use Elmer's glue? The book only needs to be functional, not pretty.

Esmer's glue is more binding.

[aliantha]

Try Elmer's. If it doesn't work, move on to Plan B.

I am all about being functional....

Have you ever actually used Elmer's to fix a book?

I don't think so. My preferred book-repair substance is packing tape.

[MsMary]

My sister told me to get Sobo Glue. So I did. But I haven't had time to attempt a repair, yet.

[Avatar]

We don't have Elmer's here. I associate it with superglue, but I could be wrong...maybe thats more like (crazyglue?).

Dries brittle?

--A

[aliantha]

We don't have Elmer's here. I associate it with superglue, but I could be wrong...maybe thats more like (crazyglue?).

Dries brittle?

--A

No, it's a white, water-based glue that dries clear. Little kids use it school when they graduate from paste. (We used to spread Elmer's thinly on our hands and let it dry, then peel it off -- it looks like you're peeling off a layer of skin, plus you can see all the lines in your hand. Kinda cool, in a schoolkid kind of way.)

Superglue and crazyglue are different (brand) names for the same thing -- that quick-drying stuff that bonds anything to anything. Or so they claim. It will certainly do a good job of binding your finger to the cap, if you're not careful.

[MsMary]

Yeah, Elmer's glue is nothing like superglue or crazyglue.

[MsMary]

So I repaired both the hardcover and softcover book using the Sobo glue. Put waxed paper to keep things from sticking together that weren't supposed to stick together, weighted everything down with some big books, and left it for 24 hours. The hardcover needed a second application for missed spots.

The repairs seem to have worked okay. Not pretty, but functional, and functional is what I was going for.

Thanks to everyone who offered input!