The week I had to rebind a whole set of waterlogged cookbooks for a client

Last week a regular client called me in a panic because a pipe burst in her kitchen and soaked a set of twelve vintage cookbooks she inherited. She brought them over in a plastic tub, and they were still damp and starting to swell. I had to carefully separate every single page, press them flat between blotting paper and weights for three days, and then re-sew all the bindings. The worst part was the smell, like wet cardboard and old glue. I spent about 25 hours total on it, and my fingers were sore from all the hand sewing. She was so grateful she paid me double my usual rate, which was nice, but man, it was a grind. Has anyone else had to deal with a big water damage job like that? What's your process for drying pages without them sticking together?

2 comments

2 Comments

markl755h ago

Ugh, that sounds brutal. It's wild how many modern problems still need old-school handwork to fix.

lindagreen4h ago

My old laptop needed a screwdriver and prayers last week.