I Want To Repair A Cloth On Board Album Cover

The cloth on board stamp album cover came loose. I like this album. I do not want to use packing clear or pool clear tape that would maybe rip the cloth when I take it off later. Electric black tape is just about right in stickiness but is so narrow. Iwas thinking of attaching cloth strips with a fabric glue but would that work? Any suggestions on this would-perhaps- be helpful.

I've done repairs like this and used Titebond II glue. I have it for woodworking and it does well adhering cloth to wood or cardboard, and is waterproof when it dries. If you get the cloth overly saturated with glue it will dry with a shiny appearance.

My choice would be a very light smear of solvent based clear contact adhesive. if you use too much, or you don't let it go tacky before sticking, then it will come through the cloth. The main type of glue sold in the UK for sticking fabric discolours after a number of years. Sorry I'm not familiar with US brands of contact Adhesive to be able to give brand names.
Does anyone know what the makers use? the cloth sticks to the boards for more than a century usualy and doesn't appear to strike through, discolour, or degrade.

Louise411, don't use the vinyl electrial tape as it will eventualy come undone in warmer weather. The black woven cotton fabric friction tape/electrical tape is cotton tape coated on both sides with a rubber adhesive. It may lead to staining bleeding through in the future.

I would suggest you check your nearest small printing company that has been there for years. They would possibly still have bookbinding materials and adhesives on hand and be able to quickly resolve your problem.

Otherwise, in my opinion, I would think the white waterbased wood/paper/cloth glue from Lepages or Elmers or similar with some bookbinding material or similar cloth material would do well. It does dry clear.

No1philatelist is most nearly correct. You should use a polyvinyl acetate (PVA) glue as suggested. If you are just gluing cloth to cover, you will not need a flexible PVA bookbinding glue such as Planatol, or Jade. Elmer's glue, slightly thinned with water will work very well. If you want to slow the drying time, you can do a 50/50 mix with methyl cellulose glue.

To complete the repair, paint the glue on the cardboard. The glue should be in a thin, even layer..no globs. Carefully place the fabric, or thick paper cover over the glue. Smooth the surface a little with your hand or a soft cloth, and wipe up any glue that may ooze out with a slightly moist towel or rag.

Depending on the job, you could put weight over it while it dries. If you do this, you should use a waxed paper between your cover and the smooth, flat weight (book?) you use. Removing excess glue before you do this will eliminate the possibility of any mess with excess, oozing glue.

After several hours, your repair job is finished.

I have used clear 100% silicone with very good results. It adheres to almost any surface, remains slightly flexible throughout its lifetime, is tough as nails, and is low cost. For cloth binders, I have used it to stick back down cloth that has broken loose from the backing board. I sometimes then use my wife's clear finger nail polish to touch up any frayed threads/cloth along the edges of the binder. This stops/slows the cloth from further deterioration (might be best to use several layers of finger nail polish.)
Don

Google search book repair

I recently had a similar problem and resolved it by purchasing self adhesive binder tape from The Library Store. This vendor and others like it have a variety of book repair products that can take care of almost album issue. Check out Youtube on how to do it.

Use of adhesive tape, including so-called library "repair" material should not be used on anything you value, or wish to keep for the long term.

I repair and rebind books on a daily basis and I see what these materials can do. Some things can be salvaged, and some damage cannot be reversed at all.

Book binder Bob, I knew as soon as I saw your handle that you were in that trade. It is somewhat of a dying artform/trade, but no doubt you have work for years to come, with rebinding and grouping and binding periodicals and other documents.

Great to read your position/opinion on this subject as it is important to persons looking to preserve items for a long time. And not just stick it together with this or that, and oh that is good enough.

Thanks No1philatelist. Yes, it is a dying/archaic trade. It is enjoyable though, and I'll keep doing it until I just can't anymore.

Our customer "perimeter" has been expanding over the years. That tells you that the others that ply the trade are dying off without replacements.

Great help on this and I thank you all.

I wouldn't use just any tape, certainly not electrical tape or duct tape or packaging tape. They will all fail fairly quickly. Worse, they will leak glue and make a mess out of your album. I know from experience. I have had better success in reinforcing the hinged part of album binders by using gaffer's tape. It's stronger than duct tape and the glue seems less messy but still very aggressive in remaining stuck down. Not sure how it will weather the years. I don't use it anywhere near stamps -- just on the binders and always with flyleafs, title pages, and so on protecting the stamps inside.

You might look at the Brodart range, which includes reinforcement tape

http://www.shopbrodart.com/Library-...ir-Supplies/

In my experience, amateur efforts with some of these products can be very mixed!

Very nice links and ideas and thank you all. Now I repaired the old red Minkus with new blue jean cloth and Elmer's glue and it is holding fine. I rolled a good big piece of polycotton jean cloth around the spine starting just before the name Minkus and around the back even a little longer in back. It is holding great! Now first I applied Elmer's glue to the Minkus cover directly zig-zagging it generously on the front- applied cloth than on the back of the spine and back cover- while pulling it taut. I made sure the boards were lined up during this process. I let it dry 2 days and it has been working fine.
Next, I am trying to figure out a way to repair a blue vinyl Ambassador whos front cover fell off. Any ideas on repairing vinyl, please?

Louise, your process on the Minkus album sounds very good. The fabric was a great choice. The Elmer's glue penetrates both the cloth and book board to create a strong bond which does not weaken/degrade.

Sorry...can't help with the vinyl. It is not a material with which I work.