How to remove hardcover. Repair and restoration of individual elements of the book. Strengthening a dropped notebook

They asked me the other day to fix this old book about tasty and healthy food. At a cursory examination, I immediately wanted to make a completely new cover and throw this one away because it is all torn, wrinkled and dirty. I even got the idea to cut the pages by 3-5 mm around the perimeter of the book block, since these ends were also in a terrible state, greasy, torn and faded from time to time. But since the owner did not give the go-ahead for a complete redevelopment, that is, he only asked to glue the cover somehow. Then I decided to leave everything as it is, connecting only the covers of the covers. Besides, I am not a specialist in the restoration of books, so I did not insist on a complete rework.

In general, this is what we have, or rather what we do not have, and we do not have a spine from the cover.

A new spine was cut out of cardboard 2 mm thick along the width of the book block. I chose the average length of the spine, since the covers on this book are different, the front one is 5 mm longer.

From the ends of the covers themselves, I cut off all the rags.

Since the booklet is quite massive, I decided to glue all the fragments with a cloth, besides, it will make a perfect and durable hinge. In my case, it turned out to be fabric from bathroom curtains. Later it turned out that it is poorly lubricated with liquid glue, it simply rolls off it like water off a duck's back. But if you smear with thick glue (without diluting), then it is quite perfectly lubricated and soaked.

He smeared the fabric with PVA glue, put the cover fragments on top of it, with an indent of 5 mm between them, another piece of the same fabric on top and pressed it down with a load overnight. To prevent the cover from sticking to the floor or to anything unnecessary, I covered it all with a film. But not hermetically (in small pieces of film) because PVA will dry for a very long time in bags. I glued two pieces of fabric, top and bottom, but it’s probably easier to get by with one long piece.

After the cover has dried, we put a book block into it and we see that the block protrudes outward by almost a centimeter, that is, the cover turned out to be small. We curse, make exact measurements, which we scored earlier, after which we cut the cover into fragments and glue it again, but already with the necessary indent from the spine.

Here, the gap between the fragments is already 1.5 cm.

Found a piece of dermantine from some old document folder. Unfortunately, this leather is not reinforced with anything, almost bare rubber, but for a more decent appearance, I decided to disguise the light fabric with it. The piece was cut out a little more in order to completely hide the light one under it.

We glue in the same way as the previous piece of fabric.

Since the skin is thick, I pasted a couple of pieces of cardboard on the inside, in order to subsequently get rid of the steps in a conspicuous place and bring everything into one plane. By the way, here on the upper edge you can see the curvature, due to the fact that the pieces of the cover are of different heights.

While the cover is drying. I glued a piece of fabric to the end of the book block, leaving free ears 2 cm on each side. We glue it very carefully so that the glue is soaked through the fabric. In general, experts use a bandage for this, besides, it is made a little shorter in length, but I decided to try a more durable material.

I bent the corners from thin cardboard, they will serve as a flyleaf for me. Since the appearance is more spoiled on the cover, then wide edges will go to it, and narrow ones to the book block.

I stepped back about 5 mm from the spine of the book block and glued the flyleaf to the book, I did not use much glue, since we do not need streaks on the front side.

Now we glue the fabric overlaps to the endpaper on the outside and send them under oppression.

Something like this in the end I ended up with something like a small page that remains to be glued to the cover.

This is already a crucial moment, we must try to miss and glue both sides at once. We put the book block in the cover, properly align it inside and put the book on the floor, trying not to move the block inside. Carefully open the top flap, leaning it over something, grease the endpaper on the book block with glue (we do not smear the end of the block) and close the flap, do not forget about the film under the endpaper, otherwise it may stick to the pages of the book if you smear a lot of glue. We turn the book over, do the same on the other side and send it under oppression.

Between the flyleaf and the cover, you can glue a strip of fabric that will act as a bookmark. It is better to glue it to the flyleaf or cover in advance, until the book block is glued in.

In general, I dried it for about two days. Outside, traces of glue squeezed out from under the dermantine are visible. I cleaned off large drops with a scalpel, wiped off the rest with a damp cloth because dried PVA with due diligence can be washed off with water, at the same time the cover became lighter.

From the bookmark I made a snake tongue with scissors.

A little light fabric is visible from the sides of the book block, apparently for this reason this strip is usually glued a little shorter than the book block.

Well, something like this, in the end, I began to look like a new spine. Of course, the drawing on the front side is slightly covered now, but since the cover itself is in a terrible state, I didn't really try to save it. If you immediately pick up a beautiful, durable fabric or dermantine, then you won't have to fence this layer cake. You just glue all the parts of the cardboard with it and the cover is ready, you can even completely paste over the cardboard, you get an imitation of a leather and expensive book. In the beginning, I generally wanted to leave the light fabric, just painting it on the outside to match the color of the cover, but then I found this piece of dermantine from the folder and decided to use it.

The other day I was fiddling with this little book in which the book block had already fallen apart and the pages began to spill out.

Even in this age of information technology, there are often people who still prefer books. Hardcover, yellowish pages, their smell and color - all this creates a unique atmosphere. It so happens that a favorite book, as they say, is "read to the core." It may even happen that it will be difficult to pick up her, and I really want to spend a little more time doing my favorite pastime. In order for the book to regain its original appearance, it will need restoration. Book restoration is not just about glueing pages and putting covers on them.

Restoration is a whole trend in the book business. There are people specially trained to work in this area who are mainly involved in the restoration of collectible items. But if the book does not represent a great material value, but is simply valuable to the owner, then you can try to restore it yourself at home.

Book restoration

There are two different processes that help restore books — repair and restoration. Book repair includes:

flashing a block of sheets;
gluing torn sheets;
ironing, cutting;
replacement of the binding and its gluing.

The repair only gives a small update to the book. And if the publication is very old and disintegrates from touch, then it already needs restoration. Here, restoration is understood as some kind of significant restoration, complete. It can include one or more stages. In this case, the cover can be replaced or repaired, sheets are glued, stains removed and much more.

Repairing a damaged cover

Usually, the restoration of the cover is required when it is damaged locally and has minor flaws. Such damage can occur if the book gets wet, as a result of storage, it fell into mice or was "worked" on by children. This should be done as carefully as possible and, most likely, the restored cover will not look like a new one, but it will be possible to preserve the original look of the book.

In order to do this, you must carefully peel off the paper that makes up the cover. At the same time, try to preserve all of its elements. In the place of damage, if they are small, it is necessary to split the old cardboard along and insert a piece of new there. Then align.

There is another, simpler way - this is the use of a special pulp of paper, thickly mixed with glue. With the help of it, the damaged areas are filled and leveled flush with the main surface. After drying, sand if necessary.

You have to tinker a bit with the cover. It's good if it had a solid color, but if the color was any complex or there was a drawing, then you need to choose the most similar one. The paper should be of the same type, although this can be difficult at times. You may have to show your talent as an artist and finish painting the edges.

By the way, to glue the cover neatly, you can use a computer. This process requires a scanner or camera, a color printer, and basic Photoshop knowledge. Scan the cover with a scanner and select the desired item that is most suitable for the damaged area.

Stages of book restoration

Adjust the colors to match the actual colors on the cover and select the correct paper. Then print to the printer. Please be aware that the printer distorts colors somewhat. Therefore, it is necessary to do test options a couple of times and choose the best one.

Cover making

If the old cover is badly damaged, you will need to start making a new one. Usually, the cover is done at the very end of the restoration of the book. After all pages are glued and stains removed.

If the book falls apart, then you have to staple it. To do this, align all parts of the book and clamp them in a clamp. Remove the binding and glue scraps. Next, we take a strong thread, cut it into pieces and insert it into the grooves previously sawn with a jigsaw. Before inserting the threads, they must be treated with glue.

You can use two different methods to make the cover. In the first, a cover from another book is taken as a basis, and in the second, a new one is simply made. The first case is, of course, much simpler. It is done this way:

A book is chosen that is rarely used. It is desirable that such a book has a plain cover.
The old binding is cleared of paper and glue as much as possible.
Next, PVA glue and two sheets of paper are used.
We attach the paper to the cover and cut it off.
We put one part of the paper on the cover, and the other on the book and glue it.
We repeat the same on the other side.
If suddenly the paper has gone beyond the edges somewhere, it is necessary to cut it off.
Keep the book under load until it dries.
Before placing the load, you should pay attention to the fact that there is no glue anywhere.
Further, the cover can be decorated at your own discretion.

How to make the cover yourself? We take cardboard, two blank A4 sheets and material to wrap the book. To do this, you can use: leather, paper, wallpaper, fabric and whatever comes to mind.

Three parts are cut out of cardboard: two parts for the cover and for the spine. From what you will wrap - one canvas. The cover is glued with a wrapper. First, you will need to cut off the corners, then glue the cover to the book.

Bonding sheet breaks

Usually, glueing of sheet breaks is carried out using restoration paper, which can be purchased in restorers' stores. But if it is not there, you can take tissue paper or paper from tea bags. We coat the sheets with a gap with glue and join them. Apply a thin layer of glue on top. At home, it can be PVA, but starch glue is the best option. It shouldn't be too thick or runny.

We put a strip of paper on top with a margin of width and smooth it. After the glue dries, we cut the paper. We use a scalpel for this, its blade should be as close to the break as possible. If you try, you can achieve that the seam is invisible. For reliability, it is best to repeat the procedure on both sides of the sheet.

Other methods

The restoration can also include the following methods:

To clean stained pages with ink stains, you can do the following: place blotting paper or other absorbent material under the sheet. Moisten the stain with a 20% hydroperite solution and cover with absorbent paper. After all this, you need to put the load and wait for it to dry.
You can also remove ink stains with citric acid or lemon juice.
If metal objects, such as paper clips, pins, hairpins, fall into the book, rust spots may appear. In order to remove, sulfurous alkali is used, and then the place is treated with oxalic acid.
Another way to remove rust stains is to treat the surface with a 2% solution of hydrochloric or acetic acid, in the latter case heated to 80–90 degrees. Only after using the acid is it necessary to wipe the surface with a 3% solution of ammonia.
Greasy stains are removed with denatured alcohol and turpentine. The sheet is also placed between two sheets of blotting paper and the area of contamination is heated with an iron. Next, dip the brush in hot turpentine and grease on both sides of the sheet. Then the procedure is repeated. And then moisten the stain with alcohol.
You can also remove greasy stains with gasoline and other solvents, gently blotting the pages of the book with them.
Another problem in the book is a spot of green, yellow, or black. It occurs due to infection with a fungus. Disinfection of such a book is mandatory. It is processed with a 3% formalin solution. In the case of leather binding, a 5% thymol solution is used. All this must be done in a well-ventilated area using protection in the form of rubber gloves and a gauze bandage or respirator. A cotton swab is moistened in the solution and the fungus is carefully removed, after which the pages of the book are dried.
Fingerprints, pencil marks and dirt can be removed by rubbing the paper with a crumb of fresh white bread. By constantly changing slices of bread, you can achieve the fastest possible cleansing.
For the same operation, you can use a soft pencil eraser.
Warped, crumpled sheets are laid with clean sheets of white paper and smoothed with a not very hot iron.

Restoring books at home is quite troublesome. In order to get a good result, you need to make every effort and do everything very carefully, thinking over each step. You can always give a book to a special workshop, but this only makes sense if the book is very expensive. And so home repairs are quite enough.

Beloved or useful books can be very difficult to part with. Even if from time to time, careless handling or too frequent use, they become unusable. However, it is quite possible to give a second life to a volume of verses dear to the heart or a book of useful advice inherited from a grandmother at home with your own hands.

Change the old cover to a new one

The cover is the first thing to look for when assessing the condition of a book. If its front or back parts are missing or badly damaged, endpapers are in a deplorable state, then there is no choice but to make a new one. Or use a suitable one from some other book, which is not a pity to donate. To begin with, consider the second option, as the most simple:

We carefully separate the cover that needs to be replaced from the main block of the restored book, trying to preserve its integrity as much as possible.
We clean a suitable finished cover from another book from the remnants of glue and paper. The main thing here is that it corresponds to the required size.
If you managed to find a suitable cover entirely, then all that remains is to think about the design. For this, you can use well-preserved fragments from the old cover. Scan them, correct them, for example in Photoshop, print them on a color printer and stick them on the front, back and spine. But you can show your creative imagination and make the design original copyright.

In order to make a new cover with your own hands, you will need suitable sheets of cardboard, preferably thick, 1.5–2 mm thick. But a simple one will do, including again from the covers of old or unnecessary books. Only the technology will now be somewhat different:

We make two blanks for the future cover, cutting them out of cardboard to the desired size. If the old cover has not survived, you need to measure the block itself or a separate page and add 2-3 mm along the edges.
We wrap the blanks with paper. The easiest option is plain white printer paper. Only in size should it be much larger than the workpiece itself. We place the cardboard exactly in the middle of the rectangular sheet chosen for tight-fitting. Cut the corners of the paper without reaching the edge of the cardboard. Then, one by one, we fold the edges to the back side, coat them with glue on the inside and carefully level them. You will get a cardboard rectangle, covered with paper on one side. We do the same with the second workpiece.
We put the covered blanks under the press and leave for 3-5 hours so that the glue dries up, and both parts of the new cover are not deformed. Several large and rather heavy books can serve as a press.
The third component of the new cover is the spine, with the help of which its upper and lower parts are connected. It can be cut from leather, fabric, thick paper, natural or artificial leather. To do this, measure the thickness and height of the block with pages and make a pattern. The width is added on both sides by 2 cm and 1 cm at the ends, if necessary for hem. It is convenient to make a pattern using graph paper. You can glue both parts of the cover together using the spine at once. But it is better to do this after that the entire binding will be put in order and the endpapers will be glued.
The result is a neat cover.

Mastering the basics of bookbinding

The word binding in a narrow special meaning is that part of the book that holds all its pages together. But quite often it is also used in a broader sense, speaking for example, old binding, chic binding, etc. Or they mean the process of weaving paper sheets itself. The binding of old books is a kind of history keeper. Indeed, at different times in their manufacture, different technologies were used. However, in order to master the basics of bookbinding at home, it is enough to deal with paperback or hardcover books.

How to glue a paperback book? It must be glued together, because all the sheets of such a book are connected only by a thin adhesive layer applied over the entire area of the spine. The cover itself is glued directly to the page block in a simple but usually unreliable way. It is, indeed, soft, sometimes glossy outside. Very often, a book with such a cover begins to fall apart on the very first day of purchase. And in this case, there is no choice but to glue the book with your own hands again. But first you need to buy glue for bookbinding.

In no case should you use silicate glue and tape! From silicate glue, it is also called clerical, the binding will become hard and brittle, and the adhesive tape will lose its properties in a few years. In addition, it can be difficult to remove without damaging the paper on which it was once glued.

Strengthening the binding

Now let's take a closer look, not only how to glue the book, but also how to strengthen the softcover of books with our own hands. Materials and tools that we need for this:

Book binding glue. If it was not possible to find a special one, then PVA can also be used, but only of the highest quality.
Strong thread. Dratva or, for example, a thread for quilting clothes will do.
A jigsaw or a hacksaw for metal.
A clamp or any other device with which you can clamp the block so that it does not crumble during operation.

Further actions will be as follows:

All parts of the book, except for the cover, are carefully folded, aligned and firmly clamped in a clamp. We clean the binding of scraps and remnants of old glue (you can walk with fine sandpaper).
With a jigsaw or a hacksaw, we make transverse cuts along the entire length of the spine at a distance of 3-4 cm from each other with a depth of up to 2 mm.
Cut the prepared thread into as many pieces as the cuts have been made. And in length - a little more than the notch itself.
We clean the sawn-off places of debris, coat with glue and insert pieces of thread there. We leave the block in the clamp until the glue is completely dry.

Glue the cover

The final step in restoring a paperback book is to glue the cover. You can take the old one, if it is well preserved, and stick it as it was originally. But it is still better to replace it with a hard cover, made using one of the previously described methods, and connect it using endpapers.

For the endpaper, you can also use regular office paper, although it is better to take a thicker pastel paper. The sheet is folded in half, in length and width it should be equal to the book block. We combine the fold line of the sheet of the first endpaper with the title page of the block and glue it along the entire length of the page with a narrow strip 3-5 mm wide. Similarly, glue the other folded sheet from the back to the last page.

The second halves of the sheets of each of the endpapers are glued to the inner parts of the cover not in a strip, but over the entire surface. The adhesive is applied in a thin, even layer. The place of gluing is leveled, the remnants of the glue are removed with a soft cloth. After that, the updated book is placed under the load until completely dry.

The binding will be of better quality and more durable if you use a piece of gauze when connecting the cover to the book block. It should be slightly shorter than the spine in length, and 3-5 cm more in width. Gauze is glued to the spine of the book until the final stage of gluing the endpapers. Thus, the free ends of the gauze hanging from both sides will be hidden, but will give the entire binding structure more flexibility and strength.

Recovering pages

The restoration of a book cannot be of high quality and complete if there are not enough sheets in it or, for example, the pages are torn. Lost fragments of text, torn corners and side margins of pages were not so long ago recommended to be repaired with tissue paper. But today, modern computer technologies make it possible, even at home, with the help of an ordinary printer, to restore irretrievably lost pages. There is also a special technology to artificially age them to a state that is outwardly indistinguishable from the rest.

When it is necessary to restore the lost sheets of a paperback book, it is not a pity to divide it into as many parts as necessary, and then assemble and glue it again. If you don't worry too much about aesthetics, you can glue a page into a book without violating the integrity of the binding, using an ordinary school ruler, a brush and glue. The ruler is applied to the next page, which follows the dropped sheet, retreat from the spine by 0.5 cm, smear this strip with a brush, then insert the glued page and press it. To prevent the pages from sticking together, remove the remnants of glue with a soft dry cloth. This method is advisable in case of loss of single or a small number of sheets.

But if we are talking about a hardcover edition, it is worth figuring out how not how to glue, but how to sew the sheets into a book. The book block of such publications, as a rule, consists of several parts, each of which is a stack of double sheets, sewn together like a student's notebook. Such sheets are called folded sheets (from the German word "fold, fold"). Therefore, in order to qualitatively restore a lost or damaged page, it is necessary to change not one sheet, but at least two. To do this, the stack should be disassembled into separate sheets, and then, together with the restored pages, sewn again with a special linen waxed thread. But dratva, dental floss and sewing thread will also work.

Do not use ordinary cotton threads for sewing. They cannot stretch, and even when folded in half, such a thread can cut through the paper.

After all the pages have been restored, the binding structure is returned to its original state. Before that, if necessary, you can additionally strengthen the spine with threads inserted into the transverse incisions - as was recommended when restoring a softcover book.

We apply modern technologies

It happens that a book needs to be restored solely in order to preserve its useful content. For example, a collection of recipes or a handicraft book. Then you can safely apply modern technologies and replace the usual binding with a metal one.

To do this, in any store or stationery department, you need to purchase metal rings for fastening album sheets and a hole punch. It is better to choose it with a retractable scale, since it will be much more convenient to use a hole punch with a ruler. How do you bind the sheets into a book in this case? They punch the required number of holes along the entire spine of the book with a hole punch, insert detachable metal rings into them, and a new binding is ready!

In conclusion, the most important tip. It is strongly discouraged to restore old, rare books on your own. An amateurish approach can significantly reduce their artistic and historical value. Happy owners of such publications are better off turning to professionals for help.

To bond the page at the tear, grease the paper with PVA glue in the torn area, then carefully align the edges

How to glue pages

The first thing that comes to mind when you see a torn page is scotch tape. But you cannot use it for repairs. The glue with which the tape is smeared corrodes the paint, mold and yellow spots form under it, it peels off along with the letters. A special translucent invisible tape for sealing money will do. It is sold in a stationery store and costs around 200 rubles. If you cannot find the tape, use thin strips of tracing paper and PVA.

The second way to fix a torn page is to staple it directly at the break. To do this, lubricate the PVA paper in the torn place, without going beyond the boundaries of the gap, and then align the torn edges as carefully as possible. On both sides of the sheet, along the gap, we apply thin tissue paper (it does not need to be glued), and on top - ordinary paper for printing. Then the book is sent to the press. After 6-12 hours, we remove the paper, and gently smooth the place of the gap. After such a procedure, the defect is almost invisible.

To remove a greasy stain from a book, sprinkle with talcum powder and iron it through the paper.

How to clean and dry a book

Ink stains are removed with hydrogen peroxide. Purified gasoline will help remove oil stains. Greasy traces are removed like this: sprinkle the stain with talcum powder or flour, then iron it with a warm iron through absorbent paper. Rust traces can be removed with citric acid or erased with an eraser.

Cuts are cleaned with a regular eraser or fine "sandpaper".

If the book gets wet, it is ironed through a clean white sheet, and then put under a press. The pages will dry, but will remain flat and not deformed.

You will need thick cardboard to restore the cover.

How to restore the cover

Book covers often have corners jammed. A good way to restore them is to saturate them with superglue. The corners will become rigid and will not wrinkle. This method is also suitable for children's books made of thick cardboard.

If the cover has fallen into disrepair or has lost some part, turn on your imagination. Make a blank out of thick cardboard. Wrap the blank with paper that matches the color, so that one side of the cardboard is completely covered, and on the other side of the blank, the edges of the sheet are bent by 3-4 centimeters. Decorate to your liking.

You can print an exact copy of the previous cover on a color printer, or take elements of the old one and make an author's collage.

Elements of the book. Source: heritage-books.ru

How to glue a thick bound book

This process requires perseverance and accuracy. First, the book is disassembled so that the bound pages and the cover are separate from each other. The place where the pages are stitched and glued is cleaned of old glue. Then it is coated with PVA and a piece of gauze is glued along the entire length, possibly in several layers.

A flyleaf is cut out - a sheet the size of a spread of a book, folded in half. If necessary, restore the cover using the methods described above.

It remains to cut a strip for the spine from leatherette or fabric. The dimensions of the strip are easy to calculate - we add two centimeters above and below to the height of the sheet of the book, and we also add two centimeters on each side to the thickness of the spine. Glue the strip to the spine of the cover exactly according to the size of the side allowances, glue the top and bottom excess to the inside. Place the book in a new binding, secure with PVA.

Glue the endpapers. One half of the endpaper is completely glued to the cover from the inside, the other to the title page, but not entirely, but half a centimeter. Check that there is no excess glue. It remains to send the book under the press and wait for the glue to dry.

You can also bind homemade notebooks in the same way.

Book in "disassembled" form - stitched pages and cover separately from each other

How to glue a paperback book

In this case, the problem is with paper clips or poor quality glue. Once again, duct tape comes to the rescue. Apply patches where you insert staples and replace old staples with new ones. The most common paper clips will do. Insert them with your hands, piercing the holes in advance with a needle or a thin awl.

If pages fall out of a glued book, it is stitched. To do this, make several holes with a thin drill on the left side and sew the sheets with a thick thread. It is necessary to correctly and in order to collect all the sheets and fold them evenly so that the edges do not stick out. The seam is closed from the outside with a leather or paper spine. You can use a more modern method and insert special rings with clips, which are sold in craft stores, into the holes.

Tips for "curing" books:

Superglue is suitable for repairing cover corners and cardboard pages.
Do not cover them with plain transparent tape.
Use the split scrapbooking rings to “assemble” a paperback book.

A list of useful books for children under 3 years old from Montessori educators will help you choose books according to the age and interests of the child

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