Wire & Spiral Binding

Spiral binding near you

Wire and spiral binding uses a metal or plastic coil threaded through a row of small holes on the edge of a document. It lets a document lie flat or fold fully back on itself, so it is ideal for notebooks, recipe books, calendars, training manuals, workbooks, music books and reports you want to read on a desk. It also looks tidier than most low-cost methods.

Wire or spiral: what is the difference?

The names are often used interchangeably.

• Twin-loop wire uses pairs of metal loops, and it gives a smart, business-like finish. It is a common choice for presentations and proposals.
• Plastic coil or spiral is one continuous flexible coil. It bounces back rather than bends, so it handles rough use well, such as in a school bag or a workshop.

Both types lie flat. Choose wire if the look matters most, and coil if the book will get knocked about. Unlike comb binding, the binding is not easily reopened to change pages.

Common uses

• Spiral notebooks with your own cover, an idea we can also build into branded notebooks
• Recipe books and family cookbooks that stay open on a counter
• Reports, tenders and proposals with a clear cover and a printed card back
• Student work and dissertations when your department permits it
• Desk and wall calendars, where the pages need to turn over completely
• Music books and sheet music that need to lie flat on a stand

Page set-up

Leave at least 10 to 15 mm on the bound edge for the holes, and check that page numbers and text are clear of it. For printing on both sides, set margins so that the wider one is always on the binding side. If you are making a calendar or a landscape book, tell us which edge should be bound, since it can make a big difference to how it is used.

Covers

A clear front cover with a card back is the usual way of finishing a report. For a notebook or a cookbook, a printed heavy card cover looks and handles better. Laminated covers protect anything that might get splashes on it, such as a recipe book. If you want a full design for the cover, we can set this up free of charge when we print.

Spiral bound book printing, start to finish

We can print and bind the whole document, or simply bind pages that you bring with you. Send a PDF for us to print from, tell us how many copies you want, and tell us whether you want one- or two-sided printing. Single copies are normal, and short documents can often be bound quickly, sometimes while you wait. For larger runs or a firm deadline, phone 020 8133 4499 first.