Homemade Glue

I made my own glue a few days ago, something I never planned on doing in life...turns out it's not only possible, but kind of important if you want your books to survive in a nasty world.

So this first batch looks like porridge. I don't know what it's supposed to look like. It was hard to find a glue recipe online; I thought the internet could help you make anything, geez. Anyway, I did some experiments, and the paste worked surprisingly well! Impressive stuff, really -- and it's only cornstarch and water. Crazy! You could eat it if you wanted to.

So why bother, you ask? Because all the other kinds of glue I've tried can't take much abuse. Abuse from the weather that is -- humidity is hell on paper/glue combos and causes book covers to ripple and bubble. Not that people keep their journals outside, but I want to make the books as durable as possible. Then someone told me that ripples and such don't happen when you have just the right paste, and you can make it yourself. Plus it's difficult to acquire...not many places sell "bookbinder's glue". Fabulous thing is, homemade glue is really cheap and really green -- no chemicals here. The books smell like potatoes, fancy that.

But I'd love to hear from someone who knows what they're doing. Got any tips -- better yet, recipes? Seriously, is it supposed to look like that?

A Note About Vinyl

A reader asked me about the vinyl books I made, whether the vinyl contains PVC -- a normally very toxic chemical compound. Here's an update: the vinyl is a PVC product, but it's a biodegradable version that, when decomposing, does not release any VOC’s (volatile organic compounds). And bonus: the inks used are an eco-friendly, corn solvent-based product.