Q&A for How to Repair a Paperback Book

Place heavy things on top of the book for a while; the crease should come out or lessen in severity.

Repairing loose or torn pages will be the same for hardcover books. You should also be able repair a loose hardback cover in the same way. However, hardback books present other issues that need repairing, such as spine replacements, that are not common with paperback books.

You should not ever use rubber cement, so Elmer's glue will be a better choice. However, if you're working with particularly brittle pages use an archival glue for best results.

You should be able to find plastic book covers at any of several different retail stores. Try a local Target, Walmart, or bookstore. You can also try shopping for them online.

Use an acid-free glue like Elmer's, those glues dry clear. In other words, most school glues work best. To ensure best results, use archival glue.

Use archival fabric tape to reattach a torn cover. Using archival fabric tape will be easier.

Glue the front and back pages together with a fabric, card, or paper cover over the spine (don't glue this to the spine - just to the rear quarter of each of the front and back pages). Then secure thick pieces of cardboard to the front and back pages and, if you like, add another covering over the spine, this time connecting the two pieces of cardboard (again, do not glue this to the spine, or the first piece of paper/fabric covering the spine).

You probably could, but it would require a lot more work, make future repair more difficult, and it would be likely to yield sub-par results without a specialized book-binding machine. I'd strongly recommend sticking to PVA; try to find a brand that is acid-free if you want to avoid the pages deteriorating.

The easiest way to do that is probably to follow the instructions on attaching a new cover. Naturally, if its a rare or valuable book, it's better to just leave it alone or have it repaired by an expert.

It depends––most of the time, yes. However, you may want to do only a few pages at a time so as not to get the book too wet. If there are more loose pages than there are pages that are staying in the book, you may wish to consider rebinding (or just buy a new copy).

Use a soft cloth or brush to remove dirt or dust. For scratches on plastic, try using a commercial plastic polish. You can rub a bit of polish onto scratches with a soft cloth.

You can use glue to reattach the cover to the spine, and then acid-free tape to attach both covers to the pages they face. These are taped together with the tape visible to the reader, half on the cover and half on the page. If you want your repair to be invisible, you can just use glue. Follow the directions for acid-free wood glue. Use a rubber band and/or clamp to keep the book together for at least 24 hours.