2 wooden frames that are flat across their top surfaces (embroidery frames from a haberdashery shop were used in this experiment but old picture frames work just as well)
A small piece of fly screen (available from hardware stores or your backyard shed)
Tacks
A hammer (if your tacks need it)
A bucket large enough to immerse the wooden frames
An electric blender
Pieces of fabric roughly the same size as your mould
A sponge
A stack of old newspapers
A satchel of plain gelatin
A rolling pin
Grease proof paper
What to do
To make the mould:
To make the mould, stretch the fly screen tightly over the surface of one of the frames and attach the screen to the back of the frame with the tacks. The second frame will be used as the border, which makes the sheet of paper the desired size. If you use an embroidery frame, it will sit around the screened frame to create a slight rim or lip for the pulp to be captured in.
To make the paper:
Tear the paper into small pieces, roughly 2cm square.
Place it in the bucket and add enough water to cover the paper and soak for at least 10 minutes.
Put a handful of paper in the blender and add water until the blender is ¾ full.
Cover the blender and turn it on high for about two minutes. This will turn your paper into pulp.
Empty the pulp into the second bucket.
Repeat this process until all your paper has been blended.
Add enough water to the pulp mixture so that the ratio is about 20% pulp and 80% water.
Dissolve the packet of gelatin in hot water, and stir the gelatin into the pulp mixture. The gelatin will make the paper less porous. Without the gelatin, ink would bleed.
Place the mould, with border, into the pulp and then level it out while it is submerged. Gently wiggle it side-to-side until the pulp on top of the screen looks even.
Slowly lift the mould up until it is above the level of the water and wait for a moment until most of the water has drained from the new sheet of paper.
Place a piece of cloth on several sheets of newspaper.
Lift the border off the mould. Turn the mould over onto the cloth so that the pulp side is down.
Use a sponge to press out as much water as possible.
Hold the cloth flat and slowly lift the edge of the mould. The wet sheet of paper should remain on the cloth.
Repeat the steps above and stack the sheets of paper (with the cloths still on them) alternating between sheets of grease proof paper.
Use a rolling pin over the stack to squeeze out excess water.
After you roll the stack, gently separate the sheets.
Dry the sheets by laying them out on sheets of newspaper.
Repeat the above process to make as many sheets of paper as you like.
You may like to add other materials or food colouring directly to the pulp, or you can add textures on top of the pulp after forming a sheet. For example, you might want to add some wildflower seeds on top of the paper. Cards made with seeds can later be planted by the recipients to create flower gardens.
Make sure you dispose of left over pulp thoughtfully. Paper fibres can clog your drain, so do not throw any leftover pulp into the sink.
What's happening?
Almost all of the paper used today is made of wood fibres. Some specialty papers, like stationery and foreign money, are made from linen, cotton, or other plants. Other papers contain a combination of cellulose fibres and synthetics such as latex.
Wood material is made of fibres, tiny cellulose strands stuck together with a natural adhesive material called lignin . It is by separating and reorganising those fibres that we make paper.
Some paper is made brand-new from trees - either small trees harvested just for that purpose, or from sawmill scraps left over when larger trees are made into building products. A second source of papermaking material is recycled fibre. Each year, more and more paper is recycled and the fibres are used a second, third or fourth time.
The basic recipe for paper is wood, water and energy. By chopping up the paper, you are recycling the fibres in the old paper to make new paper.
While there are environmental costs in making recycled paper, the process has less of an ecological impact than that of making paper from raw materials. As you make your own paper, you'll observe the water and energy required to reprocess paper fibre. In commercial manufacturing, producing printing grade recycled paper can save as much as half the energy that's needed in making paper from wood pulp, and there are savings of water as well. As you admire each beautiful and unique piece of handmade paper you've created, you will gain a first-hand understanding of the papermaking process and an appreciation of the importance of paper recycling and paper conservation.
Applications
Early paper was nearly always made from recycled materials. In Europe , it was made from soft fibres like cotton rags. During the Black Death, millions of people in Europe were killed, causing a surplus of clothing and rags. Many of these were used to make paper and this paved the way for the success of the printing press, which had just been invented.
However, cotton just wasn't plentiful enough to meet the paper demand. People began experimenting with other materials, including wood. By the 19th century, people were producing paper very similar to the paper you can find today. Paper was born and this humble mixture would set off one of humankind's greatest communication revolutions.
Each year, Australians use about 1.23 million tonnes of writing and printing paper. This equates to over 30 million trees being cut down.
Apart from wanting to protect our natural resources, you need only consider how paper is made to appreciate just how damaging the current practices of paper manufacture are to our environment. To make office paper large quantities of water, oil, electricity and chemicals (such as chlorine) are used. A lot of waste is also produced during the paper making process.
Chemicals pollute our waterways, air and the earth. But with recycled paper, the environmental effects can be reduced. For example, just look at what we can save by producing one tonne of recycled paper instead of paper produced from virgin wood pulp.
Producing one tonne of recycled paper saves:
31,780 litres of water;
4100 kilowatt/hours of electricity;
75 per cent of chlorinated bleach;
27 kilograms of air pollutants;
13 trees;
4 cubic metres of landfill; and
2.5 barrels of oil.
Blend the paper to make pulp
Add water to your paper pulp
Gently wiggle the mould from side to side until the pulp is evenly
Lay your handmade paper on a piece of cloth to dry
