Different binders for my reference books

Over the past two years I’ve been using rainbow colored, heavy duty Staples binders to house my growing collection of unbound reference books. I liked them because I could select the correct D-ring size to contain an entire book. See my prior blog post New life for my favorite reference books.

Unfortunately I’ve learned that any binder with a D-ring size over 2″ is too heavy and bulky to use comfortably for this purpose. Also, with frequent use the rings weren’t closing tightly, causing pages to get trapped.

So I’ve just reorganized all my unbound books in keepFILING letter-style binders with 1 1/2″ D-rings. There’s even a landscape-style binder that will accommodate the Dave Iron books.

Using page protectors takes up additional room, so some unbound books required two binders. I like that each binder has a color coded ring. These rings are interchangeable and other colors can be purchased.

Finally, I insert a boomerang style sheet lifter in the front of each binder. This ensures the pages lie flat and prevents bunching. 

Some of these titles are long out of print but copies are still available online. If a cover has cosmetic issues but the pages are in good condition, this could be a way to repurpose a useful reference book.

These are the titles I have unbound, placed in page protectors and inserted in binders. They’re my go-to books for trivet and iron collecting. You’ll find a description of each book in Websites and References.

● Pink: Tuesday’s Children by Judy & Frank Politzer, 1977.

● Red: Early Tuesday Morning by Judy & Frank Politzer, 1986.

● Blue: Trivets & Stands by Rob Roy Kelly & James Ellwood, 1990.

● Orange: A Collector’s Guide To Pressing Irons & Trivets by Esther Berney, 1977.

● Purple: British Iron Stands by Hazel Mitchell, 1991.

● Green: Trivets Book 1 and Trivets Book 2 by Dick Hankenson, 1972.

● Grey: Irons By Irons, 1994 and More Irons By Irons, 1997 by Dave Irons.

● White: The A-Z Guide To Collecting Trivets, 2004 and The Expanded A-Z Guide To Collecting Trivets, 2010 by Lynn Rosack (my books).