{"id":9525,"date":"2015-04-22T01:00:46","date_gmt":"2015-04-22T05:00:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/?p=9525"},"modified":"2025-09-15T15:47:49","modified_gmt":"2025-09-15T19:47:49","slug":"conservation-conversations-adhesive-pre-coated-repair-materials","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/2015\/04\/22\/conservation-conversations-adhesive-pre-coated-repair-materials\/","title":{"rendered":"Conservation Conversations \/\/ Adhesive Pre-Coated Repair Materials"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mending tears is a treatment that book and paper conservators utilize\u00a0nearly every day.\u00a0\u00a0For this reason, wheat starch paste is one of our best friends at the bench – a dependable go-to, especially when paired with an appropriate eastern paper. Unfortunately, this reliable standard\u00a0is is not always an option – the media may be soluble, the paper difficult, the\u00a0work space less than ideal.<\/p>\n

Luckily, there are other routes to take! A possible solution to one or all of these issues may be adhesive pre-coated repair materials.\u00a0Recently,\u00a0I had the pleasure of\u00a0taking a two-day workshop at Dartmouth College<\/a> taught by Sarah Reidell<\/a>, Associate Conservator for Rare Books and Paper at the New York Public Library<\/a> on exactly this topic.<\/p>\n

\"dartmouth<\/a><\/p>\n

Pre-coated repair materials can be prepared with a huge number of adhesives – starches (wheat starch paste), cellulose ethers (methyl cellulose, sodium carboxymethyl cellulose, hydroxy propyl cellulose), proteins (gelatin, isinglass), synthetics (Aquazol, Lascaux 303HV and 498HV, Rhoplex, Avanse, Plextol, Texicryl) and in some cases, a combination of more than one. These adhesives can be applied to any number of repair papers with a variety of application methods.\u00a0This makes the possibilities fairly endless,\u00a0which is almost equally helpful and<\/em> daunting.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_8631\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Sarah walked us through the overall benefits of having these repair materials on-hand – portability, speed, control – and the specific advantages of each adhesive. One of the greatest benefits is understanding the method of reactivation for each adhesive (this is also potentially one of the more challenging elements to remember, but luckily we walked away with an extremely handy chart). If media solubility is an issue, reactivating with water is likely not an option – in this case, one would opt to use a repair material that can be reactivated with either heat or a solvent. If the scope of a project is large but solubility\u00a0is not an issue, it may be helpful to have a stash of water-activated repair material and a water brush on hand. If the object to be treated is parchment, gelatin- or isinglass-coated paper is likely a good option\u00a0and for plastics or clear supports,\u00a0synthetics may be the best bet.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_8809\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Pre-coated repair materials can be prepared with nearly any adhesive and\u00a0paper that one has in their lab and can be done with several different approaches, depending on skill and comfort level. Many\u00a0can be done with a quick hand and a piece of Mylar, while others utilize tools not always seen in a conservation lab – a bbq\/oven mat, dough scraper, and\/or a silkscreen.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_8623\"<\/a><\/p>\n

As with all conservation treatments, this is one that takes some time and experimentation to gain comfort with. That said, the risk and cost are very low. These materials can be toned to match an object and stored indefinitely.\u00a0As they are controllable and customizable, they also offer a great advantage over commercially available products, whose formulations can often be unknown and\u00a0can change without notice.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_8630\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Sarah has taught this workshop several times\u00a0now, both solo and partnered with Priscilla Anderson, Senior Preservation Library for Harvard Library<\/a>,\u00a0and it shows – she’s as organized as she is enthusiastic, which is saying something. Along with being extremely\u00a0knowledgeable, she has a ton of\u00a0great tips and sources for additional information, clever tools and other treatment ideas.<\/p>\n

\"IMG_8806\"<\/a><\/p>\n

There’s a helpful bibliography of pre-coated repair information on Sarah’s website<\/a>\u00a0to get you started.\u00a0Henry H\u00e9bert<\/a>\u00a0made brief mention of Sarah’s\u00a0presentation of this technique in an earlier Flash of the Hand<\/a><\/em>\u00a0post and Mindell Dubansky, Preservation Librarian at the Metropolitan Museum of Art has a nice write-up on the workshop\u00a0here<\/a>.\u00a0If you have the opportunity to take this workshop in the future, I highly recommend it – take-away soundbites like “gel and swell” and “first pancake syndrome” should be enough to entice you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mending tears is a treatment that book and paper conservators utilize\u00a0nearly every day.\u00a0\u00a0For this reason, wheat starch paste is one of our best friends at the bench – a dependable go-to, especially when paired with an appropriate eastern paper. Unfortunately, this reliable standard\u00a0is is not always an option – the media may be soluble, the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1353],"tags":[1424,1779,1634],"class_list":["post-9525","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-conservation","tag-athena-moore","tag-pre-coated-repair-tissue","tag-sarah-reidell"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2Btis-2tD","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":8778,"url":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/2014\/11\/14\/conservation-conversations-adhesives-in-library-and-archives-a-colloquium-review-part-1\/","url_meta":{"origin":9525,"position":0},"title":"Conservation Conversations \/\/ Adhesives in Library and Archives: A Colloquium Review (Part 1)","author":"Henry Hebert","date":"November 14, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Last Friday, the first Biennial Conservation Colloquium was held at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.\u00a0Four conservators traveled to Urbana from the UK and across the country to speak about their research or practical experiences with various adhesives\u00a0in\u00a0library and archives conservation. Thanks to generous funding from the UIUC Library and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "conservation"","block_context":{"text":"conservation","link":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/category\/conservation\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/workshop.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/workshop.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/workshop.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/workshop.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":10145,"url":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/2015\/11\/12\/conservation-conversations-tape-tricks\/","url_meta":{"origin":9525,"position":1},"title":"Conservation Conversations \/\/ Tape Tricks","author":"Jacqueline Scott","date":"November 12, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Tape, once an innocent medium used to laminate\u00a0middle school notebooks with drawings and pictures of my favorite boy band members, has become one of the great horrors of my life. While I might be exaggerating a tiny bit, tape is most certainly very bad for paper and books and has\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "conservation"","block_context":{"text":"conservation","link":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/category\/conservation\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Courtesy Eliza Gilligan, UVA Libraries","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/IMG_2168-e1447205798598-225x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9945,"url":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/2015\/08\/28\/adhesives-for-paper-mends-conservation-conversations\/","url_meta":{"origin":9525,"position":2},"title":"Conservation Conversations \/\/ Adhesives for Paper Mends","author":"Becky Koch","date":"August 28, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Adhesives are an essential part of book and paper conservation. If you want to repair a paper tear you have to use some sort of adhesive, and it\u2019s important to choose an archival adhesive. Archival adhesives won\u2019t turn yellow or become brittle over time, and most importantly they\u2019re reversible. Reversibility\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "conservation"","block_context":{"text":"conservation","link":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/category\/conservation\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/IMG_3811-2-300x225.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/IMG_3811-2-300x225.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/IMG_3811-2-300x225.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":8891,"url":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/2014\/12\/04\/conservation-conversations-adhesives-in-library-and-archives-a-colloquium-review-part-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":9525,"position":3},"title":"Conservation Conversations \/\/ Adhesives in Library and Archives: A Colloquium Review (Part 2)","author":"Henry Hebert","date":"December 4, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"The first\u00a0Biennial Conservation Colloquium was held at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign\u00a0in early November of this year.\u00a0Four conservators traveled to Urbana from the UK and across the country to speak about their research or practical experiences with various adhesives\u00a0in\u00a0library and archives conservation. This post is the second in a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "conservation"","block_context":{"text":"conservation","link":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/category\/conservation\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/barburnisher.gif?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/barburnisher.gif?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/barburnisher.gif?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":8214,"url":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/2014\/06\/28\/conservation-conversations-beva-371-film\/","url_meta":{"origin":9525,"position":4},"title":"Conservation Conversations \/\/ BEVA 371 film","author":"Becky Koch","date":"June 28, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"One product we\u2019ve started using in the studio on a regular basis is BEVA 371 film. BEVA is a type of liquid adhesive used mostly in paintings conservation, but it can also be purchased as a thin sheet of film used to back items to paper or board. BEVA is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "conservation"","block_context":{"text":"conservation","link":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/category\/conservation\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"These photos have been attached to the BEVA film but the Mylar backing hasn't been removed yet. ","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Engert-DSCF7767-300x224.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Engert-DSCF7767-300x224.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Engert-DSCF7767-300x224.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":8781,"url":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/2014\/11\/15\/conservation-conversations-another-look-at-su-su\/","url_meta":{"origin":9525,"position":5},"title":"Conservation Conversations \/\/ Another Look at Su-Su","author":"Erin Fletcher","date":"November 15, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Earlier this year, as part of the Conservation Conversations column, Lauren Schott wrote an article on su-su, which highlighted the steps to creating this alternative matter for toning materials as part of the conservation treatment. 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