Gave up my linen thread for synthetic after 8 years of stubbornness

I learned binding on pure linen thread back in 2013 at a workshop in Portland, and I swore by it through every single project. Last spring my local supplier was out of my usual weight, so I grabbed a spool of bonded nylon on a whim, mostly to avoid a second trip. First couple of coptic stitch books, I kept waiting for it to snap or slip, but the tension held perfectly and the books lie flatter than my old ones. Six months later, I've switched fully for my daily journals, though I still pull out the linen for anything with a really heavy text block. Anyone else made the jump after resisting it forever, or do you have a good reason to stick with natural fibers?

2 comments

2 Comments

spencer_sanchez674d ago

I read a post last month from some old bookbinder who swore nylon was garbage until he tried it on a batch of sketchbooks and never looked back. Seems like the flatter lying thing is a common win once you actually give it a shot.

paulperry3d ago

Did the flat lay hold up after a couple weeks of use? I'm curious if nylon fibers stretch out or soften like cotton does once a book gets handled a bunch. Also wondering what weight he was using, because I tried a 40 pound nylon once and it felt more like plastic than thread.