Rebacked my first book with hide glue instead of PVA and it came out way more flexible than I expected

Derek Thomas · 2026-09-23T03:15:05.399106+00:00

So I've been binding for about a year and a half, mostly just cheap paperbacks I find at Goodwill for a buck or two. I've probably done 20 or so at this point. Always used PVA for everything because that's what all the YouTube tutorials say and it's easy to get at Michaels. Anyway my uncle gave me a tub of hide glue he had sitting in his garage for who knows how long. He does woodworking so I guess he used it for that. I figured what the heck, let me try it on this beat up copy of The Hobbit I picked up. The spine was already falling apart so no big loss if it went bad. What surprised me was how the finished spine felt. The PVA always dries kinda stiff and the book doesn't want to lay flat. The hide glue stayed a little more forgiving, the pages open way easier now. I did have to work faster because it gels up when it cools, which was annoying. I think I used like 3x the amount I normally would because it kept thickening up on me. The smell is also way worse. My wife made me put it out in the garage for two days. So there's a tradeoff. I'm mostly wondering if anyone here uses hide glue for their text blocks on a regular basis or if it's one of those things that's old school and PVA just won. Also do you heat it up or just deal with it at room temp? Mine was real thick by the time I got to the second signature.

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Rebacked my first book with hide glue instead of PVA and it came out way more flexible than I expected | Bookbinders - HW Forums