\n<\/strong>It\u2019s a paste, that\u2019s made from wheat starch.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/IMG_3811-2-300x225.jpg\")
Paste in its dry powder form, before cooking<\/p><\/div>\n
Wheat starch is widely used because it\u2019s easy to make, easy to store, relatively inexpensive, archival, and strong. It\u2019s also very versatile – you can make paste that is extremely dry and thick, but you can still make viable repairs when it\u2019s watered down to the consistency of skim milk (paste consistencies are always measured via a dairy scale for some reason. It can get kind of gross).<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/IMG_3814-300x225.jpg\")
Paste, after cooking, ready to be strained<\/p><\/div>\n
There are loads of different ways to make paste out of wheat starch and which one of these ways is the best way is a fierce topic of debate between conservators and bookbinders. Some choose to cook theirs on the stove while others in the microwave. Some leave their starch to soak overnight in cold water before they cook it, some strain it with only a horse hair strainer, etc etc etc\u2026 No matter what exact recipe you choose to follow the process basically calls for adding water to dry wheat starch and applying heat. The starch will gel and become sticky, and that\u2019s your paste. After the paste is made it needs to be pushed through a strainer of some sort to make it smooth, and then water is added to create the right consistency.<\/p>\n
The benefits of paste: versatile, easy to make.<\/p>\n
The drawbacks of paste: cooked paste doesn\u2019t keep well and it won\u2019t be long before you need to make more.<\/p>\n
Methylcellulose Methylcellulose adhesive typically creates a much weaker bond than wheat starch paste. Sometimes this is a good thing \u2013 if you\u2019re working with a very weak object you don\u2019t want to make a very strong mend. But I rarely find a paper that is so weak I can\u2019t use some dilution of wheat starch on it, so I typically use methylcellulose in water as a poultice to rehydrate dried glue on spine linings or whatnot and I use methylcellulose in ethanol to make mends on papers that are prone to tide lines. Diluted methylcellulose can also be used as a paper size.<\/p>\n Jars of methylcellulose<\/p><\/div>\n To cook methylcellulose in water you first need to dissolve it in cold water and apply heat to make it gel up (once again, there are a number of ways to accomplish this). With alcohol, I mix the powder with the appropriate amount of ethanol and let it sit overnight. Also like wheat starch paste the viscosity can be modified depending on how much water\/alcohol you use, but unlike with paste the correct amount of liquid should be measured out before cooking rather than diluting the finished product.<\/p>\n Benefits of methylcellulose: you can make it in water or alcohol, keeps longer than paste.<\/p>\n Drawbacks of methylcellulose: not very strong, can leave a \u201csheen\u201d when dry.<\/p>\n What I\u2019ve chosen to highlight here are the two of the perhaps most commonly used adhesives in a book and paper lab, but there are lots of choices out there. Wheat starch and methylcellulose are versatile but they don\u2019t address every situation, so if you have a problem that these adhesives don\u2019t solve do some research and ask around, there is an adhesive out there to meet your needs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 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 is a big factor so […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_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},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1353],"tags":[1495,1884],"class_list":["post-9945","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-conservation","tag-becky-koch","tag-conservation"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2Btis-2Ap","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":9945,"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":8076,"url":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/2014\/05\/16\/conservation-conversations-lascaux-498\/","url_meta":{"origin":9945,"position":1},"title":"Conservation Conversations \/\/ Lascaux 498","author":"Becky Koch","date":"May 16, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"I\u2019ve worked in a lot of library conservation labs throughout my training and when I was finally looking for a \u201creal\u201d job I thought I knew more or less what kind of supplies and tools were out there. But then almost two years ago I became the book conservator at\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\/05\/photo-3.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"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":9945,"position":2},"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":9525,"url":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/2015\/04\/22\/conservation-conversations-adhesive-pre-coated-repair-materials\/","url_meta":{"origin":9945,"position":3},"title":"Conservation Conversations \/\/ Adhesive Pre-Coated Repair Materials","author":"Athena Moore","date":"April 22, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"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\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\/04\/IMG_86231.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/IMG_86231.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/IMG_86231.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/IMG_86231.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":9054,"url":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/2015\/01\/18\/conservation-conversations-a-bit-on-paper-mends\/","url_meta":{"origin":9945,"position":4},"title":"Conservation Conversations \/\/ A Bit on Paper Mends","author":"Marianna Brotherton","date":"January 18, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Book conservation is a field much like any other; the more we know, the more we learn just how much we don't know. Specialization is our\u00a0attempt to foil this conundrum by focusing\u00a0our view, and therefore narrowing\u00a0the\u00a0range of potential \"know-ables.\" In conservation this can come in the form of \"parchment specialist\"\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "conservation"","block_context":{"text":"conservation","link":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/category\/conservation\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"IMG_2785","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/IMG_2785-300x225.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":11618,"url":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/2018\/05\/15\/upcoming-workshops-june-to-august-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":9945,"position":5},"title":"Upcoming Workshops \/\/ June to August","author":"Erin Fletcher","date":"May 15, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"JUNE: Embroidered Leather Workshop June 16 \u2013 17 (Saturday \u2013 Sunday) 9:00am \u2013 4:00pm Conservation Lab at Texas A&M College Station, TX This workshop is presented by the Lone Star Chapter of the Guild of Book Workers. During this workshop students will create a sampler of stitches suitable for leather.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "workshops"","block_context":{"text":"workshops","link":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/category\/workshops\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Event-Photography-Flyer.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9945","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9945"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9945\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9953,"href":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9945\/revisions\/9953"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9945"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9945"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9945"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n<\/strong>The other adhesive I reach for during paper mending is methylcellulose, which in it\u2019s dry state is a white powder made from vegetable cellulose. You may have heard of methylcellulose before \u2013 it\u2019s used as an emulsifier and thickener in processed foods and cosmetics, and I was also surprised to discover that it\u2019s also used as a laxative.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/IMG_3817-300x225.jpg\")