L
18

Glue stick versus PVA for page trimming - total disaster with one

I tried using a glue stick to seal the edges of a paperback before trimming it with a craft knife, and the pages just crumbled everywhere. Switched to PVA glue applied with a sponge brush on my next book, and the cut came out clean and smooth in one pass. Has anyone else found a specific glue or method that works better for trimming page edges?
3 comments

Log in to join the discussion

Log In
3 Comments
diana_park
diana_park14h ago
wait, @blairf48 said 30 seconds?? i gotta be honest, i nearly dropped my phone reading that. 30 seconds for a whole book trim? that sounds like wizardry or something. i've been fighting with glue sticks and pva for months, wasting like 20 minutes per book letting stuff dry. no way that tape holds up better than pva though, i've had tape edges peel off before. but if you guys are saying it's cleaner, i might have to give up my pva sponge method and try this tape trick. honestly pva works fine but the cleanup is a nightmare with sponge brushes.
5
sams25
sams2520h ago
Bookbinding tape is my secret weapon, takes 30 seconds to apply and has never let a single page crumble on me. Way less messy than PVA too.
4
blairf48
blairf4818h ago
30 seconds is way faster than messing with glue, honestly.
2