Eleven Ways to Care for Your New Bible

12/16/2007 08:31 Filed in: Faith & Reason
Many of you may be receiving new Bibles this month as a Christmas present from a friend or loved one. So with all these new Bibles floating around, maybe it's the right opportunity to talk about caring for one.

Here are a few tips for taking care of your new Bible so that it will be of service for years and decades to come.

  • Unpack it carefully. It's cold this time of year. So if your new Bible has been sitting on a mail truck for the last few hours or even days, be very careful when you first open it. Most Bibles, even those with sewn bindings, use glue to some extent. Cold weather can make that glue brittle. Opening a Bible that's been in the cold can instantly create a permanent crease in the spine where the glue will actually break. If your Bible has been out in the cold, it might be best to let it come to room temperature before laying it open flat. When examining your new Bible for the first time, gently and slowly open it.
  • Inspect it carefully. All Bible publishers have generous return policies if you find a serious defect in your Bible. Be careful with gilded page edges as these will probably be stuck together. I've seen pages torn from being separated too quickly. There are actually methods for separating multiple pages at a time such as gently bending your Bible one way and then the other to let the pages separate. Also look for printing flaws. I've seen it all. Missing pages, missing books of the Bible, maps out of order, and printing defects. For whatever reason I regularly end up with printing defects in a new Bible in which a page has been improperly cut on a corner and is folded up into the Bible. Sometimes two pages were never separated. If you decide to keep a Bible like this rather than returning it, don't tear the pages apart, but use a sharp pair of scissors to separate them. Then, if the corner of the page is greater than the other pages, use the scissors to trim the page slightly shorter than the other pages. Any page sticking out will become ragged over time, but cutting the page a bit short will solve this problem.
  • Use your hands. The best method for softening a bonded leather or genuine leather Bible is to simply hold it in your hands regularly. The natural oil from your hands (the stuff that leaves fingerprints everywhere) is what softens Bible leather. Keeping your Bible in a Bible cover/case at all times is actually one of the worst things you can do for a Bible, although many people mistakenly believe they are taking care of them this way. I've seen leather Bibles start to crack along the edges of spine because they were kept in protective Bible covers and never allowed to soften from regular use in someone's hands. If you live in an area with lots of bad weather and need to use a protective Bible cover, take it out of the cover when you are actually reading and studying from it. By the way, number of the newer imitation leather covers come already feeling so soft, they seem to already have seen years of use--kind of like buying pre-faded jeans. But no one really knows yet how these new kinds of imitation leathers will hold up after many years of use. If you definitely want the Bible to be around for a long time, select a leather cover.
  • Keep your Bible out of the rain. You think this would be a no-brainer, but not necessarily so. If it's raining and you need to carry your Bible, try to hide it under a jacket or put it in a bag or even a Bible case (but take it out when you use it--see #3). Rain drops will cause those ugly looking spots on the silver or gold gilding your Bible has on its page edges. If you get caught in the rain and have no protection for your Bible, hold it spine up to keep water off the paper as much as possible. Not only does rain cause the aforementioned spots, it also will seep into the pages and cause wrinkles and possibly even create smears of ink if you've taken notes in your Bible.
  • Don't leave your Bible on the dashboard of your car. When I see a Bible on someone's dash on Thursday in some parking lot, I know that its probably been sitting there since Sunday and the owner hasn't been reading it. More seriously, a dashboard is one of the worst places to keep your Bible. The windshield intensifies the rays of the sun and will dry out the leather. In the hot summer time, this is about like putting your Bible in an oven. In the wintertime, not only can it dry it out, but you also run the risk of hardening any glue in the binding, causing a break when you go to use it next (see #1).
  • Use the right kind of pens and highlighters for taking notes. Never use wet highlighters or felt tip or fountain pens in your Bible as this ink will bleed through the thinner than normal pages. Instead, use dry wax highlighters that can be found in most Christian bookstores and some office supply stores. And for writing, employ a pen that uses archival ink such as the Pigma Micron series. These can be purchased at most arts and craft stores and on the internet.
  • Tie off the end of your ribbon marker. Don't do this immediately, but if your ribbon marker starts to fray (most usually will eventually), tie the end of it off in a knot and it won't get any worse.
  • Don't bend your cover over backwards. Not only will the librarian tell you this is a no-no for library books, I'll tell you that you should never do this to your Bible. I often see preachers bending a Bible all the way over to where the top and bottom covers are touching. This stretches the spine of your Bible and can possibly break it. This often leads to pages falling out, even from Bibles that have sewn bindings. Most Bibles are designed to lay open in one hand and feel limp. But it shouldn't be pushed back any further than this.
  • Unfold curled pages. If the corner of a page folds over for whatever reason, unfold it as soon as possible. Inspect your Bible for this regularly because the turned down corners may eventually crack and come off. I've seen many missing page corners in older books and Bibles. Of course, it should go without saying to never fold over the corner of a page to mark your place. This is what a marker ribbon is for. Or use some other kind of bookmark.
  • Don't stuff a bunch of material between your Bible's pages. Don't clutter up your Bible with 18 weeks' worth of previous church bulletins or even your current Bible study guide. The spine of your Bible was designed to support the number of pages within your Bible and that's it. Cramming a bunch of extra stuff in there increases your risk of breaking the spine. The librarian's rule is to mark your place with nothing thicker than a sheet of paper. Basic cardstock bookmarks are fine as well.
  • Protect Your Bible from pets and very small children. You know how good that new leather smells? It smells even better to your pet! I've seen quite a few Bible covers that had become partial puppy snacks. If you have a dog, especially one that's under a year old or one with a tendency to chew on leather, keep your Bible up high and out of reach when you aren't using it. Also, I've seen very young children take great delight in tearing out those thinner Bible pages. Also, a child may not know the proper way to carry a Bible, and may drag it around by the pages or one end of the cover. Obviously, this isn't good for the health of your Bible. The best bet if pets and toddlers are around is to simply keep it up high.

Most Bibles, especially those with leather covers, are designed for years and decades of use. Proper care of your Bible will create a cherished family heirloom as opposed to the uncared-for Bible that may sadly be tossed in the trash one day.

If you have other tips of your own, feel free to add them to the comments section.