How to Repair Bible Pages
Bibles typically have thin paper. Use a Bible enough and the chances are good that a page will tear or wrinkle. Fortunately, tears and wrinkles can be repaired using paper repair tools. In this tutorial we’ll take a look at the tools and step through both types of repairs. First, let’s look at the tools. Then we’ll see how to repair Bible pages using the tools.
First, I’d like to say a special thank you to my wife Lucinda for fixing my Bibles 🙂
Paper Repair Tools
Tools I recommend are (contains affiliate links to help us keep this site running):
- 1″ wide archival quality Document Repair Tape from Lineco
- 6″ Inkssentials Paper Creaser Folding and Burnishing Tool from Ranger
Any similar bone folding or burnishing tool, or document repair tape will work. The tape is thin and invisible, and won’t draw attention to itself. The burnishing tool smooths down the tape.
Repairing a Torn Page
This isn’t the typical tear. A cat landing in my lap, clawing through four pages. The pages now have portions of the paper missing, so this won’t be a perfect repair, but it will keep the pages from tearing further.
Cut the tape at a manageable size (we found 2-4″ to be ideal) and peel the backing from the tape. Be careful not to let the tape stick to itself.
Carefully place the tape over the tear. The tape will not come back up from the paper, so getting it lined up correctly is crucial. Use your fingers to hold the tape away from the paper until you’re ready to press it down to the page. Depending on the type of tear you might need to place something under the page to keep the tape from touching the page underneath.
Smooth the tape with your fingers.
Smooth the tape with the burnishing tool. Use light but even pressure. Too much pressure could indent the pages. Place tape on both sides of the page.
Repairing Wrinkled Pages
Wrinkled pages annoy me. They draw attention to themselves and I’m always trying to straighten them out. This can also be fixed using the repair tape.
Smooth the page as tightly as you can without tearing it. You might need to use the burnishing tool to help smooth out the crease. Be careful not to use too much pressure or you could indent the pages. I recommend getting someone to hold it while you apply the tape.
Cut the tape to a manageable length (2-4″ is good) and place the tape along the wrinkle. Add tape until the entire wrinkle is covered.
Smooth the tape using the burnishing tool.
Depending on how bad the wrinkle is you might need to tape both sides of the page. So far one side worked for this Bible.
Final Thoughts
The repair is easy to do, but does take some care. One wrong move and you’ve got tape in the wrong place. Use the tape carefully and at your own risk. For me it was worth the risk as I can now use these two Bibles without fear of the pages tearing further or without being annoyed by the wrinkled page in the front. Now I need to fix an annoying wrinkle in the front of my Cambridge Clarion.
Have you repaired torn or wrinkled pages in your Bible? What tools and techniques you recommend? What other types of repairs would you like to see? Let us know in the comments.
Hallelujah! My Cambridge Clarion has the same wrinkled pages in the front. Where can I purchase this repair tape?
Here is the tape and the tool on Amazon:
1″ wide archival quality Document Repair Tape from Lineco
6″ Inkssentials Paper Creaser Folding and Burnishing Tool from Ranger
Mahalo (thank you)
You’re welcome!
Do you have any tips on how to repair a bible that has been separated from the cover? A few of the pages on the side have started to separate also(like the introduction and maps in the back).
Hi Benjamin. We don’t have any articles on it yet, but I have had to repair a couple of paste-down editions. They had just started to separate from the block, so it wasn’t anything extreme. I used Elmer’s Glue (suggested by the manufacturer) and glued where the end sheets were coming apart. I haven’t had any trouble with them after that. I haven’t done any work on one that’s completely separated, but I do have a few that need to be repaired. If I can fix them I’ll create a tutorial from it.
Does this work with a page that has been torn from the binding? My Bible is old and well worn and a few of the pages have come loose from the binding.
Good question. I don’t think it would work for pages torn from the binding. For that, you might need binder’s tape.
Thank you. I was able to repair a badly torn page in my wife’s Bible. One extra step I added that worked well. The tear had several small spots where the paper had bent back or accordioned and would not lay flat. also the edges of the tear did not want to align before taping to hold in place. I used a piece of painters tape (Duck brand Clean Release is what I had on hand). It allowed me to position the paper, flatten out the accordion and bent edges prior to using the permanent repair tape. I was able to realign anything that did not align correctly at first. I removed the painters tape after placing the repair tape but before I fully burnished the repair tape. I took care removing the painters tape but it came off without effecting the repair. I then added repair tape to the side that had the painters tape. Everything aligned perfectly.
I think this whole system of not being able to copy this article says to me “I do not care; I will not share this with you: na na na na na especially from a godly view point it sounds like a CHILD! You should not even post this article if you will not let people copy it so they can go back and refer to it later!
I would like to write more but I am a Christian and my time is precious to God. I think you get the message!
People were copying our content and posting it on their scam websites as their own content. Why copy it? Just bookmark it and come back to read it again. That supports our website, which is what a Christian would do.
Here’s a link to what others think about this: https://www.facebook.com/randy.a.brown.7/posts/10224097354813653?comment_id=10224097392494595¬if_id=1628270874144469¬if_t=feed_comment&ref=notif
Here are two that stole our content (these are scam sites)
https://tynbooks.com/2020/12/12/csb-holy-land-illustrated-bible-review/
http://bibleshop.net/?p=5897 (it looks like this site was taken down)
Thank you. My bible is extremely sentimentaly important to me. Our faith and that bible as well as an insanely complicated, improbable chain of events is what brought me and my soon to be wife together. I wanted the best repair possible and this was very helpfull.
Hi David. That’s interesting! Congratulations! I’m glad it was helpful.
Great info
Just so you are aware, the images on this guide does not load anymore, only if you click on the “broken image” can you view the image. I tested this in Chrome and Edge.
Thanks!