Why I cover my books, why you should too, and how

Welcome to the second edition of the Wave of the Week where I post polls about bookish topics! For this week, I asked my bookstagram friends whether or not they do a habit of mine before reading a book: covering it with plastic.

Apparently, most of them – that’s 61% of the respondents – don’t!

To the 61% of you, folks, it’s not too late to change your minds about this! Here are some reasons why I cover my books (and later, how you could start doing it!):

1. Splash proofing. Plastic jackets are great for keeping your books dry! Whether it’s sudden downpour or your colleague accidentally knocking your cup of coffee off, that jacket is your book’s first line of defense!
2. Added durability. Have you ever sat on a book’s cover and realized it’s folded? So that now there’s a crease running diagonally across the front of your dear paperback? Sorry, I couldn’t relate because my plastic jacket adds a layer of hardness to my book’s cover!
3. Stress relief. Making plastic jackets for my books is a very relaxing activity for me. It’s easy and repetitive so it doesn’t tax my brain that much, giving me some time to chill as well as do something productive at the same time.
4. Everyone does it. Or at least everyone I knew when I was little did it. When I was a kid, we were required to cover our textbooks, probably for the first two reasons stated above.

So, if I’ve convinced you to switch sides, here’s what you’re gonna need:

• clear plastic (I use Gauge 5 because it’s thicc)
• a pair of scissors
• clear tape
• that book you wanna cast protection over

This pre-loved copy of Steelheart is one of my quarantine buys. That crease I was talking about, this one’s an example of!

1. Take the measure of the book by draping the plastic around it. Make sure you leave enough margin to secure the flaps later. I leave at least an inch of allowance to stick my sticky notes on. Trim excess.
   

   
2. Fold the right and left margins in, creasing the fold against the edge of the book enough to leave a mark. Make sure you stretch the plastic snugly but not too tight.
3. Cut the plastic diagonally starting from at least an inch from the spine of the book towards half an inch from the spine. Do this for all edges.
4. Take the plastic off the book for now and spread it. Fold in the little flaps you have created.
   

   
5. Put the book back in, folding in all the margins. Secure the margins by taping the top and bottom flaps to the edge flaps. DO NOT TAPE IT ON THE COVER!
   

   
6. Tah-dah! Your book is now covered! The jacket is removable so that when it gets worn, you can just slide it off the book and replace it with a new one!

I also made a video of it! Sorry for the angle, it’s my first time filming! I also used a different book.

Well, that’s it, friends! And whether you were swayed into covering your books or not, you do you! Plastic jackets are not the only way to protect your books so whatever it is you do to keep them safe, just keep on doing it! They are, after all, our treasured companions.

Til next week’s Wave of the Week!

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