DIY - How to Make Your Own Paper

A mixture of science and art, paper -making as a hobby can be very simple, but also very exciting. There are some wonderful and relatively inexpensive kits available that show you how to make beautiful papers, or you can experiment a little and discover your own special papers. The equipment needed is basic and the process simple, and yet there are many variations on what can be achieved in making paper.

Equipment:

  • A mold and deckle: This involves a sheet of wire mesh, usually with a wooden surround, and a deckle - a piece that goes on top to hold the pulp. These are readily available in craft shops or online, usually only in a small size which is fine for starters. If you are smart you can make your own.
  • A blender for quickly making pulp: Most paper makers use a separate blender than the one they use for food, but this is not totally necessary.
  • A trough large enough to easily be able to place your paper maker in and out of:
  • Plenty of newspaper and either commercial acetate, planks of plywood or some kitchen cloth for your paper to stick to as it dries. Felt is traditionally used rather than newspaper but if you want to cut costs newspaper does fine for most papers.

The basic process:

  • Gather your materials, whether this be other paper of different colors, additions like cotton fluff (or even dryer lint), or fresh plant material. Using small amounts at a time place in the blender with a good covering of water and set on pulse. The longer you blend your materials for the finer the weave your paper will end up with. This is part of the choice making involved. Keep all this pulp in a bowl.
  • Put water in your trough, add some pulp to it and stir a little. This is another decision time. The more pulp you have in the water the thicker your paper will be. More water means thinner paper. If the mixture is too thin you are likely to end up with holes in your paper.
  • Have a good wad of newspaper sitting next to the trough, or your layer of felt, and a kitchen cloth on top.
  • With mold and deckle ready - mesh facing up and deckle on top, slip into the trough. Then keeping the mold and deckle level pull straight out and shake very gently back and forth. Sounds easy, but this is probably the hardest part and can take a bit of practice. Don't worry though, if you pull your mold and deckle out and the paper has big gaps in it or starts to fall apart, just put the pulp back in and start again.
  • Remove the deckle and put one edge of the paper onto the kitchen cloth. With your sponge, gently press it onto the cloth and felt or paper, (known as "couching") Gently sponge off excess water.
  • Add another kitchen cloth on top and repeat from step 4.
  • The paper can be left to dry like this, or if you are careful can be hung - or laid flat still attached to the cloth or acetate.

These are the very basics to making your own paper. The real fun is in choosing what materials to use. Experimenting is what makes this craft so much fun, not to mention useful. Once you get started and have a little practice your only problems will be deciding what kind of paper to make and then what to do with it all.