Leather is ageless, but only if cared for properly. Of all things, moisture during rains causes most harm to your leather diary. The dampness and moisture can cause mildew, loss of natural oils, and leave the leather cover discolored, dry, stiff, and vulnerable to cracking. Though the leather used for covering diaries and books are made using a process called vegetable oil tanning, which adds durability, your leather backed diaries must be waterproofed before the onset of rains.
Waterproofing of your diary leather cover though similar to the process used for maintenance of other leather products, there are some special precautions you need to take. Here are some tips on how to accomplish this:
Like all other leather, regular cleaning is prudent. Dust along with moisture is a lethal combination for destroying your leather cover. This will not only damage the cover but induce the bacterial and fungal growth, which harm the papers too. By regular cleaning, we obviously don’t refer to any rigorous techniques. Just dusting off the dirt and wiping off stains, if any, is sufficient.
Waterproof your diary leather well before the onset of rains. Never use traditional oils or waxes. The leather used to cover diaries and books normally have a delicate texture, and hence, strong waterproofing treatments will harm the quality of the leather. Use products that are exclusively meant for delicate leather types like suede.
“Spot Check” that’s the mantra. Always remember to test the chemical on an inconspicuous part of the leather cover. Check if the test area shows any sign of color or texture change before using it over the entire leather cover.
Mink oil is a preferred conditioner for leather book covers. It makes the leather cover soft and supple along with protecting it from moisture.
Avoid spray protectors. Waterproofing sprays are a good option if you want to cover a large area. However, leather bond diaries are comparatively small areas you are dealing with. The spray protectors can at times spread and damage the paper, hence good old rub on waterproofing treatments are preferable.
After dusting off the dirt from the diary cover, apply the waterproofing agent all over the leather. To waterproof the reverse side of the leather, apply the wax or oil first on the inner side of front cover. Keep the book open and allow the waterproofing agent to dry. Leave it open overnight if needed. Then, the next day repeat the process with the back cover. This way, you can protect the entire length of the leather without damaging the paper.
After the waterproofing agent dries off, wipe the leather with a clean cotton rag to remove any excess oil or wax away. It will prevent the pores of the leather from getting clogged with the wax or oil, plus protect the pages inside too.
Once done with waterproofing, you can polish the surface with a gentle conditioner. However, avoid this step in case your diary has a matt finish.
As the saying goes, “prevention is better than cure”, always remember to keep the diary in a dry place away from long hours of direct sunlight. Even after waterproofing, keeping the diary covered in absorbent tissue or muslin will work a long way towards extending the life of your premium leather backed diary and books.
Showing posts with label diary. Show all posts
Showing posts with label diary. Show all posts
Thursday, July 1, 2010
How are eco-friendly leather backed diaries and books made
Leather is chic, leather is elegant, leather is classic….the traditional methods of leather manufacturing is an environmentalist’s nightmare. This had been a major cause of concern for the present “Go Green!” generation. To address this, book and journal industry is today offering are a plethora of eco-friendly leather diaries and journals. Many may ask - What are eco-friendly leather diaries and books? Are they really eco-friendly or just a gimmick? To solve your queries, we will explain how eco-friendly leather backed diaries and books are actually made.
When it comes to environmentally-friendly leather books, there are many ways to do it. But, the 3 basic methods follow the rules of the famous 3R – reduce, reuse, and recycle.
Reduce: Books made using this principle make use of processes and techniques that cause least amount of pollutants. Traditional leather tanning produces large amounts of chemical wastes that polluted the water and the food chain, causing immense damage to the eco-system. Many leather backed book manufacturers are using leather that has been tanned using contemporary reverse tanning methods, which release almost 40% to 75% less pollutants.
Leather cover forms a small part of the journal; the bulk lies inside in form of pages. The process of bleaching paper is as environmentally taxing as the traditionally tanning methods. For this reason, many eco-friendly journals and diaries do not use strikingly white paper, which requires a longer bleaching process. Instead they use the presumably “lower quality”, but environmentally-friendly papers.
Though the use of above methods lay less load on our environment, they end up being slightly expensive than the regular books and diaries – a small amount towards the greater good one might believe.
Reuse: This principle dictates that waste can be reduced by reusing old products, either by repairing or replacing. Journals, books and diaries made this way are not only greener, but way cheaper than the original products.
These products are manufactured using old leather from items like bags, totes, furniture, car seat covers, saddle, and others. The old leather is reconditioned, polished and treated to look as good as new. Rarely is anyone capable of finding a difference in the quality of reused and original leather baked books.
Office paper or other legal papers that are printed only on one side can be reused to make pages of your journal. For this, two papers used on one side are pasted on the wrong side to make 1 new sheet of plain white paper. For making smaller size diaries, papers that have been printed only half way through are cut and used.
These are easy and innovative ways of making eco-friendly leather backed books from used products. They are cheap. However, the cynic might not like the fact that they are not “brand new”. But then, that’s the whole point of this principle.
Recycle: Recycling has been considered the most advanced form of waste management and eco-friendly strategies. Through this method, material that are otherwise of no use and termed waste are processed and transformed into valuable materials.
To make recycled leather, old unusable leather is collected and churned into a pulp very similar to paper pulp. This pulp is then mixed with natural adhesives and binding agents like rubber and acacia tree extracts. The mixture is then rolled through mechanical press to form leather sheets of desired thickness. The strength and aesthetics of such leather is comparable to original full grain leather. In fact, many studies indicate that recycled leather lasts longer, resists moisture better than original leather. Recycled leather is not synthetic leather.
Recycled paper can be made by re-pulping used paper or from old cotton rags. Paper made using recycled old cotton rags is a highly labor intensive process that creates beautiful self-patterned paper specifically recommended for journals, albums, and letter heads.
With these and several other techniques being employed to produce eco-friendly leather backed diaries and books, we, journal writers, are finally getting a chance to follow our hobby without the guilt of adding damage to the environment.
When it comes to environmentally-friendly leather books, there are many ways to do it. But, the 3 basic methods follow the rules of the famous 3R – reduce, reuse, and recycle.
Reduce: Books made using this principle make use of processes and techniques that cause least amount of pollutants. Traditional leather tanning produces large amounts of chemical wastes that polluted the water and the food chain, causing immense damage to the eco-system. Many leather backed book manufacturers are using leather that has been tanned using contemporary reverse tanning methods, which release almost 40% to 75% less pollutants.
Leather cover forms a small part of the journal; the bulk lies inside in form of pages. The process of bleaching paper is as environmentally taxing as the traditionally tanning methods. For this reason, many eco-friendly journals and diaries do not use strikingly white paper, which requires a longer bleaching process. Instead they use the presumably “lower quality”, but environmentally-friendly papers.
Though the use of above methods lay less load on our environment, they end up being slightly expensive than the regular books and diaries – a small amount towards the greater good one might believe.
Reuse: This principle dictates that waste can be reduced by reusing old products, either by repairing or replacing. Journals, books and diaries made this way are not only greener, but way cheaper than the original products.
These products are manufactured using old leather from items like bags, totes, furniture, car seat covers, saddle, and others. The old leather is reconditioned, polished and treated to look as good as new. Rarely is anyone capable of finding a difference in the quality of reused and original leather baked books.
Office paper or other legal papers that are printed only on one side can be reused to make pages of your journal. For this, two papers used on one side are pasted on the wrong side to make 1 new sheet of plain white paper. For making smaller size diaries, papers that have been printed only half way through are cut and used.
These are easy and innovative ways of making eco-friendly leather backed books from used products. They are cheap. However, the cynic might not like the fact that they are not “brand new”. But then, that’s the whole point of this principle.
Recycle: Recycling has been considered the most advanced form of waste management and eco-friendly strategies. Through this method, material that are otherwise of no use and termed waste are processed and transformed into valuable materials.
To make recycled leather, old unusable leather is collected and churned into a pulp very similar to paper pulp. This pulp is then mixed with natural adhesives and binding agents like rubber and acacia tree extracts. The mixture is then rolled through mechanical press to form leather sheets of desired thickness. The strength and aesthetics of such leather is comparable to original full grain leather. In fact, many studies indicate that recycled leather lasts longer, resists moisture better than original leather. Recycled leather is not synthetic leather.
Recycled paper can be made by re-pulping used paper or from old cotton rags. Paper made using recycled old cotton rags is a highly labor intensive process that creates beautiful self-patterned paper specifically recommended for journals, albums, and letter heads.
With these and several other techniques being employed to produce eco-friendly leather backed diaries and books, we, journal writers, are finally getting a chance to follow our hobby without the guilt of adding damage to the environment.
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