The week I had to rebind a whole set of waterlogged cookbooks for a client

Last week a regular client called me in a panic because a pipe burst in her kitchen and soaked a set of twelve vintage cookbooks she inherited. She brought them over in a plastic tub, and they were still damp and starting to swell. I had to carefully separate every single page, press them flat between blotting paper and weights for three days, and then re-sew all the bindings. The worst part was the smell, like wet cardboard and old glue. I spent about 25 hours total on it, and my fingers were sore from all the hand sewing. She was so grateful she paid me double my usual rate, which was nice, but man, it was a grind. Has anyone else had to deal with a big water damage job like that? What's your process for drying pages without them sticking together?

3 comments

3 Comments

markl752mo ago

Ugh, that sounds brutal. It's wild how many modern problems still need old-school handwork to fix.

lindagreen2mo ago

My old laptop needed a screwdriver and prayers last week.

blairsanchez22d ago

Honestly, I gotta say "needed prayers" sounds a bit dramatic. It's a laptop, not a dying relative. I get that old machines can be a pain, but unless it was literally smoking or sparking, a screwdriver and some patience usually does the trick. Tbh, half the time people just need to reseat the RAM or clean out dust and it's fine. Ngl, I've had laptops from 2010 that still run with just a bit of thermal paste and a new SSD. Prayers probably goes a lot slower than just watching a YouTube tutorial.