Making Paper at Home - Part 1

As discussed in the last Book Arts article, "The History of American Papermaking," there are many advantages to making paper by hand, the best one being that it's FUN (some would agree that it's even addictive)! In this week's Part I, the focus will be on some basic techniques that are used to make paper at home. Part II will finish up with basic techniques as well as list links to sites where you can buy papermaking supplies and handmade paper from some great artists on the Web.

Fiber

The main ingredient in papermaking is the fiber. The fiber actually binds together to form the paper and is available to hand papermakers in a number of different forms, including cloth, raw fiber, partially-processed fiber, and pulp. (Most fibers require some treatment before they are ready to be used for making paper.) When choosing fibers, you want to choose them based not only on how they look and feel, but also taking into consideration the kind of equipment you have and the time and effort you want to put into preparing the pulp.

Making paper from cloth requires a lot of prep time because the individual cellulose fibers have been spun into thread and then woven (or connected in some other way). The effect of these processes must be undone to separate the individual fibers, which are also held together by nonfibrous materials. Any natural fiber cloth, such as cotton, linen, or ramie, will work for making paper. Traditional methods for breaking down cloth fiber include fermenting and beating, and using either a stamper or a Hollander beater.

A large variety of raw fibers can be used for papermaking as well. These fall into three categories: bast or inner bark fibers (such as flax and kozo), leaf fibers (like abaca and sisal), and grass fibers (such as bamboo and rice straw). Raw fibers often require cooking, retting or fermenting, and beating, which may be done by hand as an alternative to using a stamper or Hollander beater.

Another option is to work with partially-processed fiber. This category would include a wide range of products from cotton half-stuff (partially processed cotton from the textile industry, requiring a stamper or Hollander beater to successfully prepare it for papermaking) to sheets of cotton linter or abaca. The fiber in sheet form has already been treated to allow it to be used by papermakers with relatively simple preparation. This fiber can be turned into pulp by using a hydropulper, which churns fiber and water together or a blender.

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