July 2010 - Plan Properly for Hot Weather
We may be in Minnesota, but we still suffer the affects of summer heat! Your adhesive-bound books do as well. Stifling heat and humidity can wreak havoc on binding adhesives and create a slew of problems well after books leave our facility.
It’s impossible to plan for a heat wave two or three weeks in advance. But there are a few preparation steps that can help you and your customers mitigate potential heat-related problems. Here a few to consider:
Provide complete job details in advance - The more we know about where your books are going and how they’ll be used, the better we can help you deliver strong books in all weather.
Build ample drying time into your schedule - Heat and humidity slow the glue curing process, which can compromise spine strength if books are handled too soon. Hot weather is not a time to compress production schedules by minimizing drying and curing times.
Identify temperature red flags - Between production facilities, trucks, warehouses and end-user locales, your books will travel through a range of temperatures during the summer. It’s impossible to control them. But there are some red flags - such as a trailer full of books scheduled to sit in Arizona for three days - that may be avoided up front with sound planning. Review your transportation details with us to help identify these temperature “red flags”.
When in doubt, go with PUR - While standard perfect binding adhesives perform well for most applications, PUR adhesives are nearly impervious to the effects of extreme temperatures. Once it has cured, PUR remains stable in temperatures ranging from -40 degrees F to over 140 degrees F. That means PUR-bound books can be used anywhere without unwanted remelting or cold cracking.
Muscle Bound Advantage
PUR is a strong binding choice, but it's hardly the only choice at Muscle Bound Bindery. We offer a complete range of bookbinding services including perfect binding, side-sewn case binding and Otabind lay-flat adhesive binding, as well as complementary services such as folding, cutting, drilling, shrink-wrapping, laminating and gluing and attaching. Call us today to learn more!
