Having looked at the text block I thought it best to remove the old binding, clean the spine and pull or remove the original sewing. First I removed the text block by cutting through the paste down in line with the edge of the mull.
Then using a lifting knife (a flexible thin bladed knife) I carefully peeled back the mull and part of the paste down. The original boards are called straw boards because they are made from chopped straw, very cheap and very acidic!
I repeated the process on the other board.
Once the text block was free I could begin to clean the spine. First I peeled back as much loose material as I could, nice to see that bookbinders have carried on the tradition of recycling when ever possible.
Next was the wet cleaning of the spine...
