How to Make and Recycle Paper

Step 2 Making paper pulp!

It's better to leave the shredded paper in water overnight so that it breaks down more easily, but you can do it without that. Put some shredded paper in a blender, add water (more water than paper) and blend it all together. You can do this manually using a pestle and mortar.

(see pic)

When you don't see any clumps of paper or unshredded paper, you can stop blending it. You now have paper pulp.

Dump this paper pulp into the large tub and add water so that it covers the mold and deckle (one on top of the other) horizontally.

(see pic)

Comments

[kirstenn]

do you have a specific water to paper ratio? im so glad you wrote this, im recycling our office paper into notebooks and things for us. this would be neat for our contracts. :] i know it is typically advised not to, but can shiny paper work for this at all? if not, what makes it not work? thanks again

[ekobor]

The ratio depends on the thickness of of paper you end up wanting. The more pulp to water in your vat, the thicker the sheet you will eventually pull.

If you mean in a blender for the blending process, 1:3 should work well. If in doubt, add more water. You can always squeeze it out later.

[beehard44]

i read that as long as your paaper is submerged, then it is fine.

[Seifpic]

i think 1 part paper to 1 & 1/2 part water works good.

[Chopsteeq]

I don't have an exact ratio. You'll just have to try it out and see what it works better with the paper you're using! Shiny paper can work, I've used magazines before, but those that are too shiny might have plastic residues and other stuff in them that might not go well with the rest of the paper pulp.

[hooloovoo33]

No comments? Well I'll be the first then. How rough does the paper end up being? From the pictures it looks pretty rough. How does it do when you print on it? Those cards look good, I'm impressed.

[Chopsteeq]

They are a bit rough, but it's not that bad. You can easily write on them (I've sent cards to people and wrote pages by hand using a gel pen). Most pens will work just fine on them. But again, it is a bit rough. I'll try using J-cloths next time, Kiteman says it makes them paper smoother (scroll down). CpnChkn: the problem with glueing the edges to something is that the paper is still soaking wet, so I don't know if doing that will work in this case.

[Turnip123]

If you are looking for smoother. McMaster Carr stocks all sorts of mesh sizes of these screens. I've ordered a bunch for my Pyrotechnics. mcmaster.com Search Mesh Screens I'd use +100.

[withoutabox]

How do you know when the paper pulp is ready if you are using a mortar and pestle? I can't seem to get it into a paste.

[Chopsteeq]

It probably won't turn into a paste if you're using a pestle and mortar because you don't have enough water. I've never used a pestle and mortar but I'm thinking you might have to dilute it a bit more.