That talk about 'museum grade' materials got under my skin

I was at a bindery meetup in Portland last month and this guy kept going on about how we should all be using only pH neutral boards and linen thread for everything. Look, I get it for archival work but telling someone their family Bible rebind is worthless because they used standard book cloth? That's just gatekeeping. Has anyone else run into this 'purist' attitude at local workshops?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_hugo23d ago

Lmao wait he actually said their grandma's Bible was worthless?

thea_knight23d ago

The "museum grade" talk always rubs me the wrong way too. I get that some projects need archival materials, but most people just want something that looks good and holds up for a few decades. I've seen plenty of 50 year old library bindings with standard cloth that are still going strong. And telling someone their grandma's Bible rebind is worthless because of the book cloth? That's just being rude for no reason. Not everything needs to outlive us.