How to stop/minimise pages falling out of a book

[sidneykidney]

I've digitally printed a 32 page A5 landscape wine menu book which has been Gloss laminated on the outer cover with 300gsm Cover and 170gsm Text which has been fold, stitch, trimmed.
The book is put on a table at a hotel and the customer flicks through, reading the history of each drink. This means it can be opened and flicked through at least 10-20 times a day.
The middle spread had started falling out because the centre fold has loosened due to the amount of opening and closing.

Question:
Is there a way of either strengthening the book or minimising the stress which the pages are under (not laminating).
Or is there an alternative way on binding the book instead?

 

[pippip]

A few things we'd attempt -

Grain - If A5 landscape I'm assuming printed 2up on SRA3 so make sure the 170gsm SRA3 is short grain.
Staples - Depending on how you staple make sure the pressure isn't too high, or staple too long that it's closing correctly.
Crease - Odd occasion we've creased the middle page which helps with the staples less inclined to rip through.
Weight - Again on odd occasions I'd increase the inner page to 200gsm (generally with heavy coverage)
Elastic Hoops - You can get nice coloured elastic hoops that fit over the spine so even if it comes loose it doesn't fall out of the book.

Unfortunately at the end the day stapled booklets are going to struggle with that much daily use, especially landscape versions.

Something like this may be better suited.

 

[narseman]

Plastic Coil or Wire O, binding? Double loop Wire O, has a cleaner professional look.

 

[Stickman42]

Perfect bind?

 

[jwheeler]

Another vote for Wire-O binding (AKA: Twin-loop binding). They are as easy to assemble as coil or comb bound, but look nicer. You can even conceal or semi-conceal the wire-o as shown below. If you really want it to last a long time, print on synthetic media. Our digital presses really like the Synaps XM by Nekossa.

 

[Mike the Print Man]

I would agree with the boil bound option. More chances the book will stay together that way. MGX synthetic paper is the best IMO. We've have mixed results on our Ricoh using Nakoosa, but much more consistent coverage with MGX brand.

 

[sidneykidney]

A few things we'd attempt -

Grain - If A5 landscape I'm assuming printed 2up on SRA3 so make sure the 170gsm SRA3 is short grain.
Staples - Depending on how you staple make sure the pressure isn't too high, or staple too long that it's closing correctly.
Crease - Odd occasion we've creased the middle page which helps with the staples less inclined to rip through.
Weight - Again on odd occasions I'd increase the inner page to 200gsm (generally with heavy coverage)
Elastic Hoops - You can get nice coloured elastic hoops that fit over the spine so even if it comes loose it doesn't fall out of the book.

Unfortunately at the end the day stapled booklets are going to struggle with that much daily use, especially landscape versions.

Something like this may be better suited.

Thanks for this.
This is exactly what I was thinking about as an alternative. If the text pages are torn, frayed or out of date at least they can be replaced with spares.

 

[sidneykidney]

I would agree with the boil bound option. More chances the book will stay together that way. MGX synthetic paper is the best IMO. We've have mixed results on our Ricoh using Nakoosa, but much more consistent coverage with MGX brand.

I've never tried scoring & stitching synthetic paper before. Is it better than paper and is it robust enough to withstand multiple opening and closing each day.
I'll order samples and give it a test.

 

[sidneykidney]

Another vote for Wire-O binding (AKA: Twin-loop binding). They are as easy to assemble as coil or comb bound, but look nicer. You can even conceal or semi-conceal the wire-o as shown below. If you really want it to last a long time, print on synthetic media. Our digital presses really like the Synaps XM by Nekossa.

View attachment 293087View attachment 293088View attachment 293089

It showed this to my customer but unfortunately they don't like Wire-O-binding. They said "it looks like a document" !!!!!!

 

[narseman]

They said "it looks like a document" !

Show them some bright color coil.. Do they have a theme color in their overall design?

 

[Pennypicher]

I've never tried scoring & stitching synthetic paper before. Is it better than paper and is it robust enough to withstand multiple opening and closing each day.
I'll order samples and give it a test.

Im curious about creasing the synthetic stock as a customer of mine tried on the Duplo and it doesnt crease well. Another person told me that type of stock doesnt crease well for any machine.

 

[narseman]

Another person told me that type of stock doesnt crease well for any machine.

He's/ She's right. However.. it is very durable. Will take a lot of abuse. It's durability is part of why it's hard to crease. ☺

 

[Ynot_UK]

Binding methods often present a compromise between aesthetics and functionality.
For a document or report intended to be read at a desk or table, wire binding presents nicer, particularly because the open spread sits even either side of the mechanism. However after it has been folded back on itself a few times, the back cover can become detached - particularly where the finishing is nicely round, per the Wire-O nomenclature, as opposed to the Squashed-D variation.
Coil binding on the other band is the most secure, presenting a document once crimped that will only lose its pages if they are torn out. The continuous coil mechanism allows the document to be folded back, 360'd, with no degradation. With an open spread, one page will sit a quarter of an inch higher than the other, due to the 4:1 pitch (4 holes to one inch) of the coil. 5:1 pitch is also available to minimise this effect, although rarely seen this side of the pond.

Back to the OP's dilemma, for a coffee table book at a hotel, @pippip 's screw post suggestion wins hands down IMHO