How Can I Maintain and Repair a Paperback Book?

No matter how advanced technology gets, nothing seems to be able to replace the joy of a physical book. The debate between which is better, hardcover or softcover is one that maybe we can settle at a later date. However, one thing is for certain, paperback books are far easier to damage. Let's go through tips and tricks on how you can keep your book looking new and how to fix it if it does get damaged.

How to Prolong the Life of Paperback Books

If you like to read on the go or travel with a book, you are even more likely to get bumps, bends, and tears. Here are our favorite ways to protect paperbacks wherever you are reading.

Protecting Your Cover

1. Fabric book covers may feel like a relic from your days in school but they are used to protect textbooks for a reason. These fabric jackets wrap around the front and back of your book to protect it from scratches and dings. Plus, there are some very cute options or you can make your own if you are crafty, so your book is always easy to spot.
2. Apply a clear plastic overlay to your book to make it sturdier and protect it from the elements. This essentially laminates your book cover making it harder to bend and crease while protecting it from water damage.
   • Pro Tip: Reading at the beach or in the rain, while has excellent vibes, should be done sparingly and with great care

Protecting Your Pages

1. Store your books properly. If you have shelf space, it is best to keep your books lined up so they’re flush with each other. But, don’t pack in so many that it’s difficult to remove one. If you’re storing books on a coffee table or nightstand, stack them in piles with the largest (and heaviest) on the bottom. It is also good to dust your books occasionally, so they stay clean and avoid discoloring.
2. Keep in a dry place. Keep your books away from wet places. Not only will, any direct contact with water cause your pages to warp, but you should also try your best to store your books in a dry environment to avoid mildew.
3. Resist the urge to dog ear pages to mark your spot. Use a bookmark instead. You can check out the selection at your local bookstore or make your own bookmark if you have access to a pouch laminator.
4. Keep out of reach of children and pets. Pets have been known to chew on the corners of books which can wear them down and even leave teeth marks. You should also keep your paperback books out of reach for young children. Until they are old enough to understand how to properly handle a book it is best to keep them to board books which are made to handle rough handling.
5. Avoid over-flexing the spine. It can be hard to find the most comfortable way to hold a book open and many are tempted to have the pages as wide as possible or even bend the front cover all the way around to the other side. Try to avoid this as it cracks the spine and the binding glue along with it. This can cause pages to fall out and create crack lines down the spine. To avoid this you can use page holders that help you comfortably hold your book open at an appropriate width or condition your book by opening your pages slowly to either side a couple at a time. This slow flexing of the spine can help stretch the glue so it is less rigid and prone to cracking as you read.

How to Fix Paperback Books

No matter how careful you are, damage is inevitable. Whether your book needs some upkeep or you have come across a great vintage copy you want to clean up, there are a few ways to restore your paperbacks.

Bent and Creased Pages

If you are starting to regret dog-earing your pages or your book got over-jostled in your bag your best bet to fix the folds is by ironing them out.

1. Set your iron to the lowest setting
2. Place a barrier between the iron and your page. A scrap piece of paper, fabric, or wax paper all should work
3. Carefully iron out the crease
4. If you need just a little more power consider using just a tiny amount of water to help steam it out

Torn Pages

Archival tape is a really easy way to stick ripped pages together, however, the most seamless way to fix torn pages is with the help of PVA glue.

1. Place wax paper behind the ripped page as a barrier between it and other pages
2. Place the two sides of the tear back together and apply a thin layer of PVA glue along the seam
3. Cover with another piece of wax paper and close the book.
4. Place the book under a heavy object while the glue dries to prevent warping

Rebinding Paperback Books

Pages are Falling Out

Loose pages in a book can feel like the worst-case scenario. However, your book is not beyond repair. With the help of thermal binding, you can rebind your book in minutes making it as good as new.

In the beginning stages of wear, there may be a good amount of glue still in the spine. You can simply run the book through a binding cycle to secure the pages.

1. Turn on the device and let it warm up
2. Place the spine of the book into the machine
3. Run a binding cycle allowing the glue to warm up and re-adhere to all the pages
4. After the binding cycle completes, firmly tap the spine on a flat surface to ensure all pages are securely lodged in the glue
5. Allow the book to cool

If there isn’t enough glue left over to secure your pages, you will need to use a thermal binding glue strip. These strips can easily be cut down to size with a pair of scissors, allowing them to fit any book.

1. Carefully remove the cover from your book
   • Pro Tip: You can run it through a thermal binding cycle to loosen the remaining glue for easy removal
2. Cut your glue strip to the size of your spine
3. Insert the glue strip into your cover, followed by the book block
4. Place the entire book into your thermal binding machine
5. Just as in the first process, the binding machine will soften the glue, allowing it to attach to the pages
6. Don’t forget to tap the spine on the counter and let it cool so the glue can properly set

Worn, Scratched, or Damaged Cover

There is no perfect way to fix a cover that has seen a lot of wear and tear. However, this may be prime time to put your creativity to the test. You can rebind your book with a new cover with the help of your thermal binding machine.

Creating a Custom Softcover

1. Remove the old cover from your book block. This may be easier if you heat up the binding glue in the spine with your thermal binding machine or carefully with an iron
2. Measure out the size of your front and back cover and spine and mark the placement on a large, sturdy piece of paper
   • Pro Tip: Leave about 1/8” margin for each border to you have some wiggle room for wrapping your book
3. Create your design. Whether you are using design software on your computer that you can print out or flexing your DIY crafting skills now is the time to create the look of your cover
   • Pro Tip: Avoid using heat-activated products like hot glue when creating your cover as it may reactivate in the binding process causing your design to distort
4. Crease the edges of your cover and spine so it will wrap around your book block
5. Insert a thermal binding strip into the cover spine followed by the book block
6. Place the book into your thermal binding machine and run it through a binding cycle
7. Remove the book and allow to cool

You can also take this opportunity to rebind your book with a hardcover to add more durability for the future. Create a custom hardcover and follow the same binding steps as with a softcover to create a cover that is sure to last.

Buying Premade Thermal Cases

If it all sounds like too much work, you are in luck. You can also simply buy a thermal soft or hard cover case and save yourself some time.

1. Follow our thermal cover sizing guide to help you choose the right cover for your project
2. Simply insert your pages into the case
3. Run a binding cycle.
4. Once you have allowed your book to cool it should be beautifully bound

Choosing a Thermal Binding Machine

Whether you are a library hoping to repair some of the books in your collection or a reading enthusiast, a thermal binding machine may be a good investment to keep your books in tip-top shape. We recommend using one of these two thermal binders that are best for novels.

1. Coverbind Accel Flex Thermal Binding Machine – The most important feature to look for in a thermal binding machine for paperbacks is binding capacity. Most binders can only handle up to one-inch books which most novels surpass. The Coverbind Accel Flex, however, can handle up to a two-inch wide spine. The compact design can easily sit on any desktop and it finishes binding in 60 seconds meaning you can repair your books in just over a minute.
2. Fellowes Helios 60 Thermal Binding Machine – The Helios 60 is impressive in that it can bind up to 600 pages per cycle. That means it can fit an approximately 3-inch spine so you can fix even your most epic tombs. The binding cycle can take between 1-3 minutes and despite its large capacity it still maintains a compact enough design that it can easily sit on any desktop. Another bonus with the Helios 60 is that it is a super affordable thermal binding machine making it accessible to businesses and individuals alike.

And So…

If you want to maintain or repair your favorite book we hope this article helped. Keep your novels in top shape so you can keep your stories with you wherever you go. For more tips and tricks on bookbinding continue to explore our binding knowledge base.