cleaning off
A term descriptive of a more or less obsolete
process of removing excess adhesive from the spine
of a book subsequent to lacing-in. Cleaning off is
generally done by applying paste to the spine,
and, when the glue has softened, scraping off both
paste and excess glue with a CLEANING-OFF STICK or
plow trimmings. Once a book has been rounded and
backed and its shape has been set, the glue on the
spine, other than that between the sections, is
not required, and, in fact, should be removed to
permit greater openability of the book and also to
clear the sections of excess glue as a
consideration of the binder of the future who may
have to rebind the book. Cleaning off also helps
in setting the shape of the spine and makes for a
cleaner, smoother spine—factors which are
very important in the case of a tight back binding.
The increasing use of resinous adhesives in hand
binding, such as the polyvinyl group, in lieu of
hot glues, has meant that cleaning off has become
more difficult, if not impossible, even though the
use of these adhesives makes shaping the spine of
even greater importance. The plasticized
polyvinyls are neither softened by paste nor are
they soluble in water; furthermore, they do not
seem to affect openability adversely. If, however,
removal is necessary, they are alcohol soluble.
(83 , 236 , 261 )
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