HomeMade Paper

The press is on!

Bring the paper chase home to roost. Making your own paper is fun, easy, and a delightful project for the weekends. Note that this 2torial won't teach you to make printer-quality office paper (although you can recycle used office paper to make your own new paper)--it'll teach you to create pages of personalized pulp upon which to pen your powerful sentiments. Why? Homemade paper lends a distinctive personal touch to any project from greeting cards to a personal note or letter. And it's much easier than it sounds once you draw off a page or two.

Historically, the best papers in Europe were first made from a processed sheep, goat, or calf skin. Other parts of the world used woven vegetable fibers pounded together: the Egyptians used papyrus, a long coarse grass; and the cultures of China and Japan are known even today for producing very fine rice papers, made from the rice leaves or shoots. When the development of the printing press created a demand for paper, Europeans used old rags and recycled clothing, and eventually wood pulp from trees.

Most paper products today, from newspapers to packing boxes, is made from wood pulp, a poor-quality fiber requiring glues and bleaches to be added. These additives, called sizing, account for the yellowing effect you see in old newspaper clippings.

The quality of paper is largely based on the fibers used. Look around your home for attractive scraps you've been saving. Many different colors can be mixed, but bear in mind what the paper will be used for. Keep the colors relatively uniform and light in hue if it'll be used for writing. A small amount of glossy, bright paper can be added to otherwise bland fibers to give a speckled effect.

Use scrap paper which contains a minimum of writing and printed ink on it. These could tint the paper unevenly, or worse, an unintended memo from the past could find its way back to the surface.

Find the fibers

The paper that you'll make is essentially a mesh of plant fibers pressed together to make a strong flat surface. The ingredients you choose will determine the look and quality of the paper.

• Gather enough fiber to create a few sheets of paper. This need only be a cupful (1/4 liter) of paper scraps, loosely packed, per standard sheet. It's good to have extra raw material on hand in order to experiment with thickness and quality. Expect to lose the equivalent of a page or two of material in the process.

• Use old paper that has interesting texture. Tear a piece of it-- does it rip cleanly or leave a jagged edge? The harder to tear, the longer the fibers are in the paper. Long fibers create strong paper. Short fibers create smooth texture. Interesting yet durable paper balances these two ingredients.

• Optional: Lint from clothes-dryer lint trap is ideal paper fodder. Small flowers and leaves, bits of foil (from leftover holiday paper and champagne bottles) and colored threads also add a special touch. Grab anything you can shred and that floats. But use these specialty items sparingly, otherwise the page won't hold together.

Once you've gathered enough scraps to make paper, tear them up into pieces about 1 inch (2 cm) square. If you're using different kinds of paper it's a good idea to separate them into different piles.

• Thread, metallic foils, and other small decorations should be cut to length using a pair of scissors. Be creative--vary the sizes from 1/8 inch to two inches (30mm to two cm). A few long threads are interesting;too many and it looks like spaghetti. Foils and bright colors are better in small pieces less than 1/4 inch (5mm) across. Set any of these decorative fibers aside for now. Don't shred these in the blender.

Sort your scraps by fiber length and color, and identify the base color: the pile of scraps that most resembles the color you want the paper to be.

Cut the screen

Ordinary window screen works great for making paper. It should be free of dents and curves, otherwise the paper will come out in exactly the same shape. Rust-free wire screen works the best. Synthetic screen should be used with caution; it's less rigid, which can cause problems later in the process. Synthetic screen may be serviceable if used with a frame, as described below.

• Cut the screen the same size as the sheets you want to make, slightly large if you want to make a frame for the screen. If you intend on making lots of paper the same size you should consider building a frame around your screen. In this case allow two extra inches in each direction before cutting the screen. For example, if you want to make a frame for 8 by 10 inch paper, then cut a screen 10 by 12 inches large.

Optional: Build a frame using lengths of wood 1/2 inch wide by one inch thick, or one inch square. You don't have to get fancy, just be sure that the inside of the frame is the same size as the paper you want to make, the corners are square, and not too wobbly. Set your screen down on top of the frame evenly and nail or staple it in place. You want the screen attached snugly to the frame, without any big gaps between the wood and the screen.

Blend it to bits

And now a dash of paper theory--in order to make new paper from old paper, you've got to change it to a mushier state. Blenders accomplish this nicely, and the result is the pulp.

• Fill a blender about 3/4 full with clean water. Take a handful of scraps from your base color pile and put them into the blender. Cover the top and blend on medium-high for a few seconds. The water will start to look like very watery oatmeal.

• Add various scraps one by one, and give a short blast with the blender each time. You want to put shorter fibers in first, then gradually add scraps of longer fibers. Otherwise all the fibers will end up about the same length--short!

• Add any special items (including threads) last. Don't turn the blender on at this point as it may ruin these items or wreck the blender, or do both.

Don't make a pulp more than one part scraps to four parts water--ie, don't fill the blender more than 3/4 full. If you're making large volumes, pour out the finished pulp mix and start again.

Hit the tub!

In this step you'll use a tub of water to put the pulp into a watery suspension. This will ensure a even distribution of pulp onto the screen. Note: you'll make one sheet at a time. This way you can adjust the sizing or pulp-to-water ratio, as you see how each sheet comes out. You may want to test the screen with a little pulp, to check that the water can run through the screen while retaining the pulp.

• Fill a large tub with clean water. Pour the pulp (the fiber and water mixture) into the tub. Swirl it around. The pulp should be distributed evenly throughout the water before you start dipping. If the mixture sits for a while before you're ready, some settling will occur. Just give it another swirl with your hands when ready.

• If you're using large amounts of lint or vegetable parts (including wood-pulp paper), add a few drops of white glue to the tub and mix it in thoroughly. Subtitute a tablespoon of cornstarch if you don't have any glue handy. This sticky, binding substance is called sizing.

• Hold the screen with the frame on top. Dip it in the tub at an angle until it's fully immersed, then move the screen back and forth until the pulp is evenly dispersed in the water and across the surface of the screen. Finish by pulling the frame straight up out of the tub.

• You should have collected enough pulp on the frame to make one sheet of paper--the pulp should fill the screen to the inner edges of the frame. The water from the tub will run through the screen, depositing the pulp on the top level of the screen. Hold the frame above the tub until only a few drops of water remain on the screen.

• If the paper looks too thin, add more pulp to the water in the tub, swirl, and dip the screen again. Too thick? Remove some pulp from the tub, dip the screen and collect a screenful of pulp. You can then remove the pulp from the screen by rolling it off with your fingers.

• No frame? If you're not using a frame, hold the screen about four inches below the surface of the tub. Agitate the water by moving the screen back and forth until the pulp is evenly dispersed in the water and across the surface of the screen. Draw the screen slowly and evenly up out of the tub. Hold the screen above the tub and allow the water to drain. Take care to keep the screen taut, or the pulp may "puddle" in the middle, which will produce lumpy paper.

Squeeze out the water

There are actually two actions happening here: the force applied by the roller squeezes out the water from the paper, and absorbent materials above and beneath the paper prevent the paper from reabsorbing the water.

• Lay one sheet of wool felt down on a flat tabletop. Wool felt is ideal because water runs right through it and it's strong enough to sustain the pressure. The felt must be larger than the sheet you're making. Several felts, or a stack of old newspapers or even towels can be placed underneath the felt to help absorb water.

• Turn the frame over on top of the felt. The freshly drawn pulp should drop out easily. If it sticks, then gently tap the frame onto the felt.

• Lay another felt on top of the pulp. Cover with another sheet felt (or newspapers or towels).

• Take a rolling pin and press down on the pile to squeeze out the extra water. This will also bind the pulp fibers together. Start at one end and roll firmly and evenly across the pile. Do this several times to get as much water out as possible and to press the fibers together.

• The hand press option: a small hand press is great for squeezing out the paper. Turn the paper out on a large sheet of wool felt and cover with another sheet of felt as described before. Now squeeze the felt sandwich with the press. Or using the old-fashioned washing machine, feed the felt sandwich through the rollers.

Hang it out to dry

Now carefully remove the top layer of felt (and any other absorbent materials) from the pulp. It should now hold together as an honest-to-goodness sheet of paper.

• Carefully take up two corners of the paper by rolling them back (just a half inch/one cm or so) with your fingers. Hold a corner with each hand and gently peel the sheet off the bottom felt.

• Clip the fresh sheet on to a laundry line with ordinary clothespins to dry. Any place that's warm and dry will be fine--wherever you would hang laundry. Avoid damp areas (mold might grow on the paper), dusty areas (wet paper will collect any dust in the air), or windy places (your paper could be blown off the line!)

Drying time is about three hours, more if the air is humid or if there is little sun.

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