Dura-Lar (Duralar) Clear Polyester Covers

I have purchased a few 2nd hand FS books in the last month from a collector who covered his books with clear, hard, plastic like covers custom cut for each book.

The books are from the 70's and are in remarkable condition, with vibrant colors on the spine in particular.

I am considering doing the same for my books. As near as I can figure out, the following product may be similar to what was used:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0015LWRZY?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=ox_...

I am looking for experiences or advice from folks who have made or used such covers on their FS books.

I also found this you tube video from a person who has done this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WmPDzJ7kXM

-Shawn

Nice Shawn. Thanks for bringing it up, and for the links. I`m about to do the same thing with some relatively old kind of fragile treasured volumes i got from my father - if i should do this with my folios then it would be a full day job, maybe some day in the future, who knows :)

>1 sdawson: I haven't made such covers for my own books, but I do have experience of plastic covers on Folio books. The third book from the FS, Aucassin et Nicollette, 1947, has a plastic dust jacket, as did the first in the Shakespeare series, Romeo and Juliet, 1950, and my copies. both the books and the dustjackets, are still in very good shape. The entire "Folio Fine Press" edition series, from 1987-1993, 20 books in all, was sent out with clear plastic dust jackets. My set is still in fine condition, both the books and the dust jackets.

Neither the early ones nor the later ones show any mention of who made the dust jackets. But they seem to endure. There is a company, in the US at least, that makes plastic covers for paper dust jackets, but which you have to cut yourself. The plastic isn't particularly hard. I think the name of the company is Brodart. That might work equally well.

>1 sdawson:

You should talk to dlphcoracl about this. He's done a lot of research on this topic, and is always happy to provide his recommendations. I know he's already talked about this at least twenty times on LT, but LT's search feature is nonexistent as far as I'm concerned when it comes to cross-referencing threads. I'm sure he'll see this thread before long, though!

>3 garyjbp:

Thanks for the reply. I do have 3 long rolls of Brodart mylar, (various sizes 7, 9 and 12 inch or thereabouts), which I religiously put on all the dust jackets of other books. I collect vintage sci-fi and 20th century authors. Definitely worth the small price. I can recommend these, but of course, they are of no use for FS books.

>4 scholasticus:

Thank you. The LT search function was down earlier today when I attempted to search, hence I started the new post. I'll seek out dlphcoraci ...

-Shawn

Dura-lar roll arrived. It's a big roll for seventeen dollars. Will be interested in seeing how many covers I can make.

My tools are a yardstick for a straight edge, x-acto knife, cutting surface borrowed from my quilting mom, and the back of a heavy table knife.

It took a longer than expected for my first cover, perhaps 15 minutes, trying to ensure straight cuts and folds. The folds take the most time. I expect I'll get better. Still, my first attempt worked.

Linking to Flickr photos.

https://flickr.com/photos/94793757@N00/sets/72157662834269394

Shawn

P.S. Made two more tonight --A Handmaids Tale and Songs of Innocence and Experience

I'm reviving this thread as I have an interest in the subject. I also have a few Fine Folio editions with these covers. But more recently, some books from ebay sellers also have them. Since I am ramping up my buying of older books, preservation concerns me more now. A recent purchase of Bruce Rogers: A Life in Letters (not a FS book but beautifully produced) came in a "Duralar" wrapper and still fit nicely in the slipcase. I'm considering buying some of the material but seek suggestions on thickness and vendors. There may be different best choices for books in a dust jacket and books with or without slipcases.

It's standard for the french iconic collection "La Pléiade" to have a transparent plastic jacket who fits inside the slipcase. It has been the case for a few decades now and i believe it has to be credited for the exceptional quality of the second-hand market for this books.
Difference is this jacket is made of a materiel called "rhodoid" in french (an early 20th trademark) and it does seem to be a bit more rigid than the Duralar seen in the video. Could be worth to look at the difference.

Some weeks ago I wrote to dlphcoracl on this topic. he graciously and helpfully wrote back as set out below.
I have followed his advice and had good results with the .003" thickness. (See a further comment of mine at the end.)
He wrote:
Dura-Lar is made by a company called Grafix (see link):

https://www.grafixplastics.com/grafix-plastics/plastic-film-plastic-sheet-faq/my...

If you click on the header labeled "Materials" at the top of this page Grafix will discuss the differences between all of these plastic materials. Briefly stated, Dura-Lar is museum quality and archival. Unlike the other plastics, it is perfectly clear and it will not stiffen, yellow or crack over time. It will not interact with any book binding, e.g., silk, buckram, leather, vellum, etc.

I order my Dura-Lar from Dick Blick Art Materials (see link):

https://www.dickblick.com/products/grafix-dura-lar-clear-acetate-alternative/

I find it most convenient to order the Dura-Lar as individual sheets in the
25 x 40 inch size. I use the .003" thickness for most books and use the slightly thicker and stiffer .005" thickness for extremely large and/or heavy books. Each sheet comes with its own tissue paper covering which is ideal for mapping out (measuring and then cutting with scissors) each dust wrapper to proper size. The specific item numbers if ordered from Dick Blick are:

55506-1103 .003" thickness 25" x 40"

55506-1205 .005" thickness 25" x 40"

The issue of dust jackets does not enter into the equation regarding my choice of Dura-Lar thickness, only the size of the book itself. Certain books that come with tight-fitting slipcases may require the thinner .003" Dura-Lar or may not be amenable to any Dura-Lar dust wrapper. I make Dura-Lar dust wrappers for ALL of my important fine and private press books, regardless of whether they come with dust wrappers or slipcases.

dlphcoracl

Another benefit of these covers. On books with faded spines where the title is really hard to read, you can make a label and slip it between the spine and the fairly close-fitting wrapper. I have been able to avoid using tape for these but, if it is necessary, the label can be taped to the duralar and not the book. I've now covered slipcased books and books with dust jackets and really believe in this.

>9 laotzu225:
Many thanks. The thickness was exactly the kind of info i was missing.

One further observation. I've noticed that people have sometimes commented on tight slipcases to point that the book's covers might be abraded. My copy of Hassan, bound in art silk, came with a tight slipcase. Even thought the duralar cover added very slightly to the book's width, it made sliding the book in and out of the slipcase easier and of course protected the silk.
By the way, this is a lovely book.

I bought the 2 mil archival roll from Brodart. Is this too thin? Am I wasting my time? Because some of my Folios are large like Game of Thrones and Norman Davie's 'Europe'.
http://www.shopbrodart.com/Library-Supplies/Book-Jacket-Covers/Film-Rolls/Polyes...

>12 RickFlair: I have the 3 mil (75 micron) stuff everyone here recommends, but I have also used it to to cover all my my fine bookds, regardless of size. That includes some big stuff like South Polar Times (non-LE) which is a good deal bigger and more massive that GoT. So with 2 mil you might be okay, especially on your smaller books.

More importantly, my experience is that the accuracy of my folding is far more important than is the size of the book in how well the cover works. If I fold the cover a few milimetres too big then it becomes much looser and slides around a lot when holding the book.

Do report back with your experience!

>9 laotzu225: It seems obvious, but I hadn't thought of labeling my film covers. Another advantage indeed!

I'm hoping that anchoring my 2 mil (50 micron) mylar to my larger books will be enough to work properly. I'm trying to use this single 50 micron roll to cover my dust jacketed books and my Folio Society books which of course have no dust jacket. I may have to use some of that Brodart clear archival tape to anchor the mylar. I would want to keep the tape only contacting mylar and not the book itself. Maybe something similar to this, although my Brodart roll is a single sheet unlike the roll in this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63LKaOks-Gw

I recently found out about adjustable Vinyl vista-gloves from the library store and will be trying them on my hardcover books with dust jackets. They come in multiple sizes in packages of 10 and do not require cutting or taping.

https://www.thelibrarystore.com/product/ad30-0700/bk_cvrs

How does vinyl age? Is it archival?

>16 RickFlair: no it is not archival, though I do not intend to use them for decades, and never on leather books. I find the Folio Society books of such high quality that I see no need to protect them in plastic. Here is an article on that topic. https://ideas.demco.com/blog/book-doctor-series-protecting-hardcover-books/

I just received a batch of used Folios in the mail. What is the best way to gently clean the exterior of these books? I want them super clean before applying the mylar covers. I just emailed Folio with this question.

>18 RickFlair:

You may find this LibraryThing group helpful:

http://www.librarything.com/groups/bookcareandrepair

Looks like 'Professional Draftsman's Cleaning Pads' is recommended although Folio has not responded to me yet. I will edit this when they respond.

>20 RickFlair:

Folio had been using different materials for their bindings through the years - from paper (where cleaning needs to be very very careful) to silk and cloth (which are a pain to clean if stained) to buckram (which is cleanable with pretty much any mild cleaner) and leather (which has its own challenges)... So anyone that claims that all Folio books can be cleaned the same way had probably never seen a Folio book... :)

So careful with generalized solutions.

Thank you. Yes, most of mine have the buckram covers. One book has the silk and another has an entire silver foil cover ('Brave New World' from the 1990's).

I received a response from Folio Society. The representative states that he is not an expert on the topic though. Here is their response to my cleaning question:
"I'm no expert in the field, but I wouldn't really advise using anything much more than a lightly dampened cloth to clean your books. Anything stronger, might jeapordise some of the print, I would think. We find that a soft white eraser can work on some stubborn marks!"

I just completed my covers. I used the 2 mil archival Brodart film and the Brodart, single sided, Crystal Clear archival tape. I'm linking some pictures. What do you think? I am very satisfied with the fit and feel of the covers. I think the 2 mil is a perfect thickness. You will see the tape only touches plastic film and does not contact the book in any way. I still kind of worry about the tape. The top part of the tape, which obviously has no adhesive, does touch my end papers when the book is closed. I hope that as time passes the tape doesn't peel up or "leak" out some adhesive residue and get on any of the end papers. Thoughts?

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1seSQgzvvgDPdRFdtkpJ1HwJdjwJWzq30/view?usp=shari...
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1smLwzP8dZNavLRhJqQFrroi3zRJ35Yko/view?usp=shari...
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1smWBQCNpi0ehW4k6bFguS0RCtut4JOqS/view?usp=shari...

>24 RickFlair: I wouldn't think you need to worry about the tape, given that it's archival quality. I think most folks who do covers just make a dust jacket and avoid tape altogether. Your method does protect the bottoms of the boards from shelf wear, though for me I'm not sure it's worth the extra time and effort. Do they fit back in the slipcases or are you shelving them without?

They fit easily into the slipcases and slide out of the case a bit easier as well.

>24 RickFlair: I don't use tape. Give the 3 mil a try either with or without tape and see if you like it. I've also used the 5 mil on some non slip-cased books as well as some quality paperbacks- the thinking being the thicker mylar give some body to the cover, making it more sturdy.

For my dust jacketed books, I've just been using the single sheet of mylar with no paper backing.
I just fold the mylar at the top and bottom of the jacket. The center of my dust jacket is exposed to the environment.
Is there a big protection advantage by using the mylar paper backed dust jacket protectors?
I've noticed that a few used books I bought have come with the mylar with paper backing.
It does seem like it could protect the jackets more as it creates a near complete enclosure around the dust jacket.
I feel like it's probably not a big worry since I always remove my jackets before reading.
What do you think?

>28 RickFlair:
I've always used the ones with the paper backing, but not because I gave it any deep analysis.