PAPERMAKING How often do you use paper Probably every day You draw pictures and write school reports on paper You also use paper when you read books buy movie tickets and more That's a lot of paper Before paper people wrote on materials such as bark silk leather and bamboo Then nearly 2 000 years ago Chinese court official Cai Lun created a lighter cheaper material It was made of rags and plant fibers that had been soaked pressed into sheets and dried It was the first paper Soon papermaking spread from China all across the world Over time papermakers discovered new and better methods for making paper
Today most paper is produced in factories by machines However craftspeople around the world have continued to make paper by hand And with just a few basic materials you can make handmade paper too
MATERIALS BASICS Even with the help of machines the papermaking process is still similar to that of 2 000 years ago First plant fibers are beaten and soaked in water This creates paper pulp Then the pulp is filtered through a mold to form a sheet Finally the wet sheet is pressed and dried FIBERS To make your own paper you'll first need fibers for your paper pulp Like traditional papermakers you can use plants These include grasses leaves stems
You can also make paper pulp with the fibers of existing paper products These include card stock construction paper napkins paper towels tissue paper Most projects in this book use recycled papers to make paper pulp These include cardboard junk mail magazines newspapers paper bags Whatever fiber you use you'll need to cut it into smaller pieces Running paper through a paper shredder is a quick easy way to do this Or you can use scissors to cut the paper into thin strips If using plant material cut it into pieces about the size of a quarter
