How to Unbind a Book

Co-authored by Kim Gillingham, MA

Last Updated: September 15, 2021 References

The binding in a book helps keep the pages together. If you are trying to use images from the book for an art project, however, unbinding a book first can help you remove the pages without damaging them. Unbinding a book also comes in handy if your current binding is damaged and you want to replace it. Luckily, whether your book is hardcover, softcover, or has a spiral binding, removing the binding is easy as long as you follow the correct techniques.

Method 1

Method 1 of 3:

Unbinding a Hardcover and Softcover Book

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Open the front cover of the book and place it on a surface that you don't care about scratching. You will be cutting into the book with a sharp knife, and there's a chance that it will go through the book and onto your table.^{[1]
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2
Cut along the interior fold of the cover. You must remove the back and front cover before you can start removing the pages. Open the book and use a utility knife to cut along the inside binding of the book. If it's a hardcover book, you'll have to apply a good amount of pressure to go through the cover. Once you've made your cuts, pull away the front cover of the book.^{[2]
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- The interior fold is where the front cover and back cover of the book connect to the rest of the pages.
- Be careful and cut away from your body.
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Flip the book over and make a straight cut down the binding of the book. Pull the back cover away so that it's no longer connected to the pages of the book. Again, you may have to apply a considerable amount of pressure to cut all the way through the book.
4
Pull out the threads in the spine. Sometimes there will be threads inside of the book spine. Carefully pull the spine away from the book pages. Use a set of tweezers to carefully pull them out. Continue pulling them until there are no more threads in the spine. If you pull all of the threads, the pages should start to come loose.^{[3]
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- If you are unbinding a softcover book, you can skip this step because they typically use a glue adhesive to keep the pages together.
Open the book to the middle page so that the text on the pages are facing you. Use a razor blade and carefully cut down the center of the book. This should detach both sides of the book. You may have to apply considerable pressure to get all the way through the binding.^{[4]
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Sometimes the pages will just begin to detach if you've cut down the center of the book. If they don't, open the book page by page and cut down the binding to fully remove them.^{[5]
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Method 2

Method 2 of 3:

Unbinding a Plastic Spiral Binding

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Laying the book down on the edge of a flat edge will give you leverage on the binding and allow you to pull out the coil in one motion. The books binding should be slightly hanging over the edge of your flat surface.^{[6]
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Use your body weight to press down on the cover of the cover of the book, with the spiral binding hanging over your flat surface. This will keep the book still as you pull out the spiral binding.^{[7]
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Place your thumb on the spiral binding in the center of the book. While still applying pressure to the cover, quickly pull down on the coil. This should unwind it on both sides and remove it from the book. Because the plastic coils are fairly flexible, you shouldn't have to adjust them if you pull the coil out with enough force.^{[8]
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Method 3

Method 3 of 3:

Removing a Metal Spiral Binding

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Hold the book firmly in your hands and use a set of needle nose pliers to straighten out the bent binding on the bottom of the book. The coil, which looked like a hook, should now be straight.^{[9]
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If you don't want to save the front or back cover of the book, you can remove them by simply pulling them out. Remove any detachable pages inside of your book to make it easier to remove the coil.
Use your fingers to push and rotate the coil. It should start to unwind on the other side and exit on the top of the book. Continue spinning until the entire coil is detached.^{[10]
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