Does Laminating A Vintage Book Ruin It?

Those of us who collect old, vintage and antique books know that the real value in these books is in sharing them. However, when it comes to children, the last thing that we want to do is hand them an old book!  Especially young ones who love to eat pages and and make a fist full of paper out of them otherwise. The point is, when it was time to give my great-niece a one-year birthday present, I wanted it to be a vintage children’s book about her favorite character. In this case, Curious George.  So, I found an old copy of this book (1952) and I have to admit that it was in rough condition.  Therefore, I initially thought that it was a good idea to just let her have it completely, without concern about her possibly tearing it apart. After all, it was merely a rescue book and it was important for me that she was given full permission to handle it how she will without concern for the condition that we normally like to keep our old books in.

However, that’s when I decided to figure out a way to make it last a lot longer for her. So, I turned to lamination.  First of all, we know that laminating pages can make them last for a long time but it is also common knowledge that this isn’t the best way to preserve a page indefinitely. That’s because ordinary lamination material still permits light rays to pass through it and can also cause a chemical reaction to the acid that most modern paper and modern dyes contain which causes deterioration of paper and fading of the paper and print in time.

However, in this case, the book was already in bad condition and its only purpose was to be enjoyed for this one, last run! The result was exactly what I was hoping for and so I have no regrets laminating each and every page of this book so that it could be enjoyed by my great-niece on her first birthday and for as long as possible afterwards.

See How Much She Enjoys Her New Book In This Video that her grandmother (my sister) took. It’s adorable! :

Go to the next page to see how I made it – Step by Step:

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