To make paper
you will need old paper products to recycle, a wooden frame,
screen (mould), sponge, food blender, plastic bowl, tacks
or staples, fabric and starch.
Choose the used paper that you are going to recycle. This
could include old newspapers or magazines, stationery and
cardboard.
Tear up the paper into small pieces, half fill a blender with
the paper and the rest with warm water. Gradually increase
the speed of the blender until, after around a minute, the
pulp is smoothly blended.
Make a mould by stretching a screen tightly over a wood frame
and holding it in place with staples or tacks.
Fill half of a bowl with water, add a few loads of pulp from
the blender and stir the resulting mixture.
Add to the paper pulp a couple of teaspoons of liquid starch
and stir it in.
Submerge the mould in the pulp and move it around until the
pulp appears to be spread evenly over it.
Lift the mould slowly upwards so that it is above water level
and allow most of the water to drain from the new sheet of
paper. To alter the thickness of the paper add more water
or pulp, stirring the mixture.
After the mould has stopped dripping, rest one edge on a piece
of fabric and slowly lay flat against it the side of the mould
covered with paper
Using a sponge pressed down remove as much of the excess water
as you can.
Secure the fabric and carefully raise the mould. This should
leave the wet paper sheet on the fabric. Remove bubbles by
gently pressing the paper.
After repeating this process a number of times, stack the
pieces of paper with their fabric bases and cover the top
piece of paper with another piece of fabric.
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Press the excess
water from the layered stack and then carefully separate the
paper sheets.
Hang the paper on a clothesline to dry.
When the sheets of paper have dried, peel them away from the
fabric. |
