Physical Properties of Decorative Japanese Book Cloths

Abstract

Japanese book cloths are used by hand bookbinders for small editions and specialty work. Established book cloth performance standards do not include these fabrics and, subsequently, no manufacturing criteria have been established to predict their long-term performance.Twelve samples of Japanese book cloths were selected and the following physical properties were evaluated: cloth weight, fabric count, resistance to water spotting, colorfastness to water, colorfastness to crocking, abrasion resistance, and breaking force. The sampled book cloths performed very poorly in the resistance to water spotting, colorfastness to water, and abrasion resistance tests. None of the samples passed established book cloth standards for abrasion resistance. The book cloths performed much better in the breaking strength, dry crocking, and the thread count tests, with all passing in thread count, fill yarn breaking strength, and dry crocking, and all but one passing the warp yarn breaking strength test. Test results for wet crocking were mixed with six passing and six failing.Studying the performance levels of these book cloths reveals the need for manufacturing standards for all modern book covering fabrics. It is hoped that the results of these tests will increase awareness of possible conservation issues related to the materials and will assist consumers in the selection of book cloths.