In our business’ values statement, we promised to “reduce the amount of
waste by getting the most out of our supplies, reusing materials for other
projects, and recycling as often as possible,” so one way we do this is by
making paper from scratch with our left over card making paper. It’s a fun and
different thing to try, plus we are recycling by reusing all of our scraps, so
everybody wins, the environment and us.
During our first attempt at papermaking we weren’t quite sure how it was
going to turn out or what exactly we were doing. During our second, and most
recent, attempt at papermaking we were handling it like pros…well, almost like
pros!
It is a long and a bit messy process but at the same time it’s lots of
fun blending up the paper and “playing” in the tub of water when you make the
paper pulp into a sheet.
We thought that we’d let you in on how we make paper with some fun
pictures we took during our first two tries and some step by step instructions.
Step 1
Separate your paper. At the end of each week we separate our paper by
colour, rip it up into tiny bits, and put them into bags to store. We have five
different bags, one each for blues and greens, pinks and purples, oranges and yellows
and reds, creams and whites, and lastly, brown and black. It’s not necessary to
separate each individual colour because the mixing up of similar colors can
make some very nice shades of paper. Also, you are going to want to separate
non-cardstock paper from the cardstock because they have different weights and
will absorb water differently during the soaking process.
Step 2
Make sure you have all the supplies you need. Look through your house
for different equipment that you need to make paper; it will save you some
money if you reuse old things you have laying around your house.
You will need:
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Plastic pails
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Rust proof sieve
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Deckle and mold – They are basically two 8 ½ x 11 wooden frames that we
made; one is a frame without glass (deckle) and one has mesh stretched over it
(mold) which is attached by tacks or staples on the reverse side.
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Vat – we use a big Rubbermaid storage tub, but you can also use a
dishpan or laundry tub, as long as it’s at least 10 inches deep and about 8
inches longer and wider than your deckle and mold.
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An old blender – You are not going to want to use one that you plan to
make your morning smoothies in because that would be quite gross. You can look
for used blenders at thrift stores or at yard sales. Just make sure the blender
is super clean before you begin to blend paper in it.
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Sponges
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Old towels
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Felts – These are fabric pieces that you place between your paper during
the drying process. You can use wool felt or tightly woven linen that are
slightly larger in width and length than your deckle and mold. We just went to
the fabric store and bought some inexpensive fabric and cut it down into sheets
that are the right size for our paper.
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Clamps
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Pressing Boards – These are two heavy sheets of wood that you put your
freshly made paper between to squeeze the excess water out of them. We found
two big pieces of particle board and covered them with plastic to prevent
warping.
Step 3
Now that you have all of the equipment that you will need, it is time to
begin the paper making process. It does take a couple of days to make homemade
paper and it also takes a bit of time, so make sure that you have some free
time so that you are not rushed. On day one you are going to put the separated
paper into your plastic buckets and then fill them up with room temperature
water so that all of the paper looks covered. They will have to soak like this
overnight or for about 24 hours.
Step 4
After letting the paper soak overnight you can blend it into pulp in
your blender. Just put in handfuls (one colour at a time) of the soggy
paper along with some water and blend until it looks mushy. Strain the pulp and
then dump it into another bucket. Repeat this process until all of the soaked
paper is turned into pulp.
Step 5
Now that the pulp has been made…it’s time to make paper! First we filled
our tub up with room temperature water, just over half full. We added about a
cup and half of our various pulps and stirred it up. Then we put the deckle and
mold on top of each other with the mold on the bottom and then we slowly dunked
it into the water and scooped it upwards shaking it from side to side and front
to back. We held it diagonally and let the water drain off and then we removed
the deckle piece. Next we flipped the paper onto a piece of felt that is on the
pressing board and dabbed it with sponges until most of the water was squeezed
out of it. We gently pulled the mold away from the paper and then we had a
piece of not-quite-ready, wet, soggy paper. We covered this piece of paper with
another piece of felt, and then repeated the process. Once we had made all of
the paper that we desired, we put the other pressing board on top and attached
two clamps and let it sit for 24 hours in the bathtub just in case of dripping
issues.
Step 6
The next day we took the pressing boards off and laid the paper out to
dry on a newspaper covered table. Make sure you still keep the paper on their
felts. Let them dry for 24 hours.
Step 7
Paper! Your paper should be ready to use now. If it is still a bit damp
you can let it dry longer and if it curls up funny you can use an iron to iron
it out.
Well there you have it folks, Papermaking 101 with Samantha and Nicole.
Enjoy!
