Warped Leather Bindings

I have a few leather fine bindings from Zahrendorf and Sangorski as well as a number of leather Easton Press volumes.

On a few of these, and especially on some of the Easton volumes, I have noticed that the leather has started to warp and shrivel a little. I think this has happened in the last few weeks when the central heating has been on full pelt and is presumably due to lack of moisture and the dying out effect of the heating.

Short of turning of the heating, is there anything I can do about this? When the heating is eventually turned down will the boards resume their normal shape?

Thanks

Scary as it sounds, a glass of water on the shelves near your leather bound volumes will help to keep the central heating from drying out the air, and therefore the leather.

Use a squat glass with a relatively large 'mouth' and only fill it up halfway. Sit it on an absorbent coaster and naturally, be careful not to spill it when removing or shelving books.

Please get yourself (and your books) a humidifier! What justjim says will help in the short run, but you don't want the problem to recur.

Thanks Justim and Lilithcat.

I will take both pieces of advice, using water for now and then investing in a humidifier.

I hope that the warping will repair itself. I guess it will - leather is very supple and flexible.

It is certainly a humidity problem, have you not noticed it before?

Were the books over damp before you turned the heating on?

or

too dry once the heating was turned on?

Check that the wall is not damp behind the bookshelf
Is the bookshelf on an outside wall?

Your collection sounds wonderful, the Zahrendorf and Sangorski bindings will have had all the correct board linings so any warping can be cured
It may be worth getting a cheap small bookbinding press from ebay as a few days in the press would sort them out.
Altrnatively you could lie the book flat and put a large book and weight on top, even covered bricks are good.
It takes about 7 days for all the moisture to settle in a book that has just been bound.

It is also advisable to make sure your books are sitting vertical on the book case with no gaps.

Best Wishes
Mr "SoupDragon" - a craft bookbinder

Thanks, Soupdragon.

The warping is not too bad - but noticeable. It could have been a lot worse. My bookcase does not lie alongside an outside wall and the books were not damp. I certainly think the heating has made them dry. I hope that once the humidity normalises, moisture circulates then the books will return to normal. But I don't want to take any chances.

I may look into getting a bookbinding press. I have never used one before but they look fairly simple pieces of machinery. I assume that you should put something between the press and the binding to protect it whilst in the press ?

Some thick, smooth card would be fine. Just make sure there's no print on it and that it's flat so it won't damage the book.

1 cm of A4 printer paper would work. We have a lot of spare board at the bindery so send a PM if you would like me to post you some!

Steve (soupdragon's husband)