Finished my third book five days ago and it still has a sharp sour smell when I open it, somewhere between vinegar and school glue. PVA on the spine, wheat paste on the pastedowns, cheap bookcloth, sitting on an open shelf. Is this normal curing or did something go wrong with the paste?
Cheap bookcloth contributes more than people expect, both the paper backing and the sizing. If you want to know which is which, sniff an offcut of the cloth on its own.
Offcut smells of essentially nothing, so it's the glue. Useful test.
Five days is nothing. I have one from last winter that took nearly a month and was completely fine. Give it air and stop opening it to check, which is the hard part.
If you ever need it gone faster, a sealed box with an open tub of bicarbonate of soda for a few days pulls a surprising amount out. Don't let the bicarb touch the book.
@clay_bertram · 11mo ago · 3 replies
Normal for PVA. The sharp vinegary note is residual acetic acid off-gassing and it usually fades over one to three weeks depending on how thick you went and how much air it gets. Stand the book on its fore-edge with the boards fanned slightly open somewhere with airflow and it clears faster.
What isn't normal is musty or bready. If it smells sour-sweet like old dough rather than sour-sharp like vinegar, that's the wheat paste going off and it only gets worse.
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@leaf_litter_lou · 11mo ago
Definitely the sharp kind. Standing it fanned open now.
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@margot_teller · 11mo ago
Make paste in small batches and keep it in the fridge no more than three or four days. Most paste problems are just paste that's a week old.
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