posted on March 1, 2001 02:37:19 PM
What causes the boards on hardcover books to "bow" -- you know, to sort of bend or warp so that they no longer lay flat against the pages? And can anything be done to return the board to its original state?
Like a good squirrel, I stored up ten or more big plastic bins of books to get me through the winter. I keep them in my garage (I live in the Northeast, so it's cold out there this time of year). The problem is, when I bring a stack of them inside to post on eBay, the boards start to bow. It's a real pain in the neck. Sometimes the pages lay a little funny too. Is it the temperature shift? Does humidity play a part? I know it sometimes happens too if I leave a book in the car during the summer and the sun hits it. And almost every book I see put out at a flea market is similarly affected.
Lately I've been placing affected books at the bottom of a big heavy stack in the hope that the sheer weight of the other books will flatten them out again. Sometimes it works; other times, no.
Anyone else have this problem? Or know of it? What's your solution? Ideally I'd like to store the books in my home (where the temperature remains more or less constant) but I simply don't have the room.
posted on March 1, 2001 05:16:05 PM
It's definitely the temperature change, and I suspect the humidity may play a part. What kind of heat do you have in your house? I keep my books in my garage here in the Northeast, too, but don't have the bowing problem when I take them in to list, probably because my heat is so darn DRY! I've had some success, like you, putting books with warped/bowed covers under a stack of heavy books, but some books are beyond help. If this happens when you take them in, and you're pretty quick about putting them under a heavy stack once they've warmed up to room temperature, you should be fairly successful in flattening them out again.
posted on March 1, 2001 05:43:26 PM
I list far fewer of my books on eBay now. I put a lot of them on Amazon's Marketplace. It's eBay's loss, too bad. I was stunned yesterday when I searched for a book title and eBay's search returned one copy currently for sale. The seller had paid for a featured auction, and RIGHT UNDER his/her listing was that darn box asking if I wanted to search for the book at half.com! Unbelieveable. Uh, oh. I'm getting wound up again. It's policies like that that drove me to Amazon's Marketplace, which I've been pretty happy with, BTW.
It's a tough problem to correct...easier to
avoid than fix. Temperature and humidity change is the cause.
Strange as it may seem the recommended fix
is to apply humidity in order to
relax the boards. First, place a piece of mylar between the warped
board and the pages. Place a moist piece of blotting paper next to the
board. Then pressure should be
applied until the warp (hopefully) straightens out. This is a long tedious
process. I only had one book in this condition and was never able to get it
straightened very well.
Maybe keeping the books under
a lot of pressure when you first bring them in will help.
My heat comes up through baseboards behind which are forced hot water pipes. It's not terribly hot in my place (who can afford it?) althoughI can't be sure about the moisture. But what a terrific pain in the neck this phenomena is, especially when you see a potential $50 book start to bow.
Helen,
I wondered if trying to reverse the process by applying humidity might work, but after hearing you describe the painstaking nature of the procedure, it doesn't sound like it would be worth the trouble.
posted on March 1, 2001 08:17:54 PM
How about leaving the books in the garage until the summer and then moving them in the house. The temperature and humidity would be more equal and the bowing may not occur.
You're right -- that would work. There are bins of books out there that have sat there year round and not bowed in the least. Unfortunately, eBay and the bill collectors don't wait for the seasons.
I have been told, but never attempted it, that putting the book in the microwave for a few seconds with something placed on top of it to hold the boards straight, will take care of the bowing.
I'd suggest trying it on a book that isn't valuable though - just in case.
Please let me know if you try it, and how it works.
posted on March 2, 2001 12:59:07 AM
I was thinking about why this happens. In the garage the book covers absorb moisture which cause the fibers to expand. The cover is some type of cardboard with a cloth cover on one side (the front) and a pastedown on the back. It absorbs the moisture slowly and evenly.
When you bring the book inside the humidity is much lower and the heat much higher. This causes rapid evaporation of the water in the covers. As the cloth dries quickly it shrinks. Because the boards underneath are still damp, the shrinking cloth pulls the damp board underneath into the bowed shape. The board then dries permanently in that shape leaving you with a bowed cover.
If the books are worth it and you have time to experiment, I think you have to somehow reintroduce moisture to the cover so that the board underneath is pliable again, and then dry it so that the board dries flat. Possibly with steam and weights. Maybe in the microwave with a dish of water.
posted on March 2, 2001 02:47:44 AM
Simple solution to this. Buy six spring clamps at your building supply store, preferably the kind with the rubber sleeves on the tips. Then place a pen or pencil inside the board or cover of the book you're attempting to straighten. Clamp three of the clamps, evenly spaced, near the spine of the book (IMPORTANT: do this step first or you'll risk damaging the hinge), and the other three along the front edge of the board. Leave it overnight, and it should be much improved in the morning. If not, let it sit another night. The gentle clamping pressure will gradually but imperceptibly tear the fibers of the cloth or cardboard or whatever the material is until enough tensile pressure is relieved on the concave side of the cupped board to correct the problem. Works great!
posted on March 2, 2001 05:20:47 AM
I had that problem with books I bought from wet climates. It's the uneven drying of the covers because your house is dryer than the storage space. (or moistening)
You have to do what carpenters do with wood paneling or flooring: bring them inside and let them acclimate while you hold them flat. Wedge them into a bookcase or stack them with a weight on top and leave them in the house for a couple of weeks until the moisture equalizes.
Un-warping is possible ... take them back out to the damp place and leave them several days, then bring them in and hold them FLAT with weights until the moisture content equalizes. Doesn't always work.
posted on March 2, 2001 05:25:52 AM
I had that problem with books I bought from wet climates. It's the uneven drying of the covers because your house is dryer than the storage space. (or moistening)
You have to do what carpenters do with wood paneling or flooring: bring them inside and let them acclimate while you hold them flat. Wedge them into a bookcase or stack them with a weight on top and leave them in the house for a couple of weeks until the moisture equalizes.
Un-warping is possible ... take them back out to the damp place and leave them several days, then bring them in and hold them FLAT with weights until the moisture content equalizes. Doesn't always work.
I've had some success, like you, putting books with warped/bowed covers under a stack of heavy books, but some books are beyond help. If this happens when you take them in, and you're pretty quick about putting them under a heavy stack once they've warmed up to room temperature, you should be fairly successful in flattening them out again.