From flipping through pages in three months to not breaking them in a year: A record of a recipe binding and changing glue in a graphic store

Why do recipe books always start with the spine of the book?

Let’s start with the conclusion:The recipe menu book is frequently used and often contaminated with oil and water vapor. Ordinary book and magazine adhesive particles cannot withstand repeated folding and oil pollution erosion. After replacing it with specialized hot melt adhesive particles that are resistant to oil and folding, the lifespan can be extended several times.This is the real experience of a graphic and text fast printing store in Guangzhou last year.

Complaint Form for Chain Restaurant

This graphic restaurant has long been serving a chain hotpot brand with recipe books, copperplate paper covered with matte film, and 48 page adhesive packaging. Last summer, we received continuous feedback from stores that the recipe was scattered in less than three months, and the pages that were frequently ordered at the bottom of the pot were simply stacked and peeled off. The shop owner once thought that the paper was too thick and reduced the weight from 250g to 200g, but the problem still persists.

The problem lies with the glue, not the paper

After the shop owner contacted Guangzhou Sunlife Trading, the technicians took two bad recipe books and conducted a simple test: peel off the adhesive layer on the spine of the book and rub it, the film will break when folded, and there is still a smooth oil film on the surface. The conclusion is clear:

• The original rubber particles are low-priced universal type, with low folding resistance and quick fatigue fracture under high-frequency flipping;
• The restaurant environment is heavy with oil vapor, and oil stains penetrate the adhesive layer to accelerate aging and brittleness;
• The laminated cover did not have any binding treatment, and the lifting of the cover caused more stress on the inner pages.

Rubber replacement plan and results

The combination provided by Sunlife hot melt adhesive is: replace the backing adhesive with high toughness and oil resistant formula book and magazine granules, add a layer of side adhesive to fix the laminated cover, and lower the adhesive temperature by 5 ℃ according to the new adhesive model. 50 trial copies will be sent to two stores for testing first.

The cost of single adhesive increased by 8 cents, but after the cost of rework and repair decreased, the overall cost actually decreased. This year, this store has also replaced the bidding documents and training manuals with the same configuration.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Do recipe books necessarily use oil resistant gelatin granules?
Recommended for frequently used dine in recipes; For stores that prioritize QR code ordering and use fewer recipes, high-quality generic books and magazines are also sufficient.

Q: Can I try it out in small batches?
Okay. Guangzhou Sunlife Trading supports sending samples for trial installation, conducting dozens of actual tests before batch replacement.

Summary: The key to binding recipe books is to be resistant to folding and oil, and choosing the right adhesive particles is much more effective than reducing paper weight.