Scrim, Mull, Super or Crash Substitutes // Adventures in Bookbinding

Video Description

In this video I will take 10 minutes to explain why any quality thin cotton or linen is an acceptable substitute for scrim/mull/crash/super or other fancy lining and guarding fabrics like Fray not and aero linen and aero cotton. Starching the substitute material will make it easier to handle. These videos are only possible thanks to the support of Patreons, and if you are able, your support would be greatly appreciated. https://www.patreon.com/DASBookbinding I understand not everyone wants to use Patreon. I also very much welcome and appreciate one-off contributions. This can be done through https://PayPal.me/dasbookbinding DAS Bookbinding YouTube Channel guide https://dasbookbinding.com/2019/12/14/youtube-channel/ 00:00 Scrim, Mull, Super or Crash Substitutes 00:50 Generic cotton from a fabric chain store 02:00 Definition of scrim, mull, super, crash 02:40 Starching 04:07 Research into woven fabrics for bookbinding 07:46 Thickness One problem with using old bed sheets and other used fabrics is that it has already started the deterioration processes. It won't last as long as a new fabric. Woven fabrics are manufactured in long sheets which are put on to rolls. The warp threads run the length of the fabric while the weft threads go from side to side. I remember this by the silly saying that the weft threads go from weft to wight. The warp threads are under more tension while the fabric is woven and this is why fabric usually shrinks more in the warp direction after washing. The edge of the fabric is the selvage. The selvage is the easiest way to know which is the warp and weft directions. If you decide you would like to buy some of the specialty materials, here are some of the suppliers. Schmedt https://www.schmedt.com/material/technical-materials/ Hewits https://www.hewitonline.com/Calico_Mull_Support_Materials_s/71.htm Ratchford https://ratchford.co.uk/product-category/restoration-conservation-products/repair-papers-cloths-materials/ Talas https://www.talasonline.com/fabrics-and-leather/conservation Andersen's Bookbinding Supplies https://bookbindingaustralia.com.au/product/mull-spine-lining-material/ The starch I used was Silver Star laundry starch. But any refined wheat or rice starch will be fine. It can be bought from the suppliers above. The last place I know it was available was a few SPAR shops (not SPAR expresses, and the last one I know that had it was Canon Hill). The paper by boffins in Oxford Celia R. Bockmuehl, Nikki Tomkins, Johanne Keiding, Richard Critchley, Alan Peare & Debra J. Carr (2020) Woven Fabrics in Book Conservation: An Investigation into the Properties of Aerolinen and Aerocotton, Studies in Conservation, 65:7, 375-387, DOI: 10.1080/00393630.2019.1672442 https://doi.org/10.1080/00393630.2019.1672442 How to access academic articles such as this behind a paywall. Many libraries pay subscriptions to the academic publishers and if you have an account with the library you can access the journals. All Australians can get a readers card for the National Library of Australia. You don't have to visit the library and you can login from home. This is how I accessed this article. Many universities will have access too. The device I was using to measure the fabric thickness is a thickness did gauge. The cheap ones usually work fine. I have cheap ones at all my benches and sell them. The ones I sell I check the calibration and fix any minor issues. I find about 1 in 10 that I import from China need a bit of fixing before I can sell them. The one I started using in the video is a medium price European made one. And then I swapped to the super expensive Mitutoyo one that applies the same force every time. Thanks to Peter Verheyen for sharing the Bill Minter story. My current price list including Japanese screw punches. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JcKBie3RCOmyNwOIuCbk-L2eCN4KnVE7/view?usp=share_link The #DASBookbinding Channel is the perfect starting point for learning #bookbinding. It covers foundation skills, simple projects, technical methods, materials and more advanced bookbinding projects. The best way to find what you are looking for is the DAS Bookbinding YouTube Channel guide. https://dasbookbinding.com/2019/12/14/youtube-channel/ English Closed Caption titles by Carrie Snyder coming soon. Thank you!! The music used in this video is performed by Jon Sayles. Jon has some great classical guitar music on his website, which he shares freely.