Papermaking history

Paper made from fabric is shown with the fabric they originated from.

Last week we tried out our papermaking kit and made a few sheets of paper using the basic directions that came with the kit. After that our curiosity was peaked as to the history of papermaking.

We decided the easiest way to do some research was on the internet. After going to a search engine we typed in papermaking history and a whole list of places offering information came up. Looking through several sites we found plenty of information.

We found out to start the process there has to be fiber. Over the centuries, paper has been made from a wide variety of materials including wood pulp, rice, water plants, cotton and even old clothes! But no matter what is used to make paper, fiber is needed. Today’s paper fiber comes mainly from two sources - pulpwood logs and recycled paper products. In fact, much of the paper used every day is a blend of new and recycled fiber.

This is much like the process we used last week; our paper came from junk paper. Recycling paper helps to get the most out of every tree used. It also helps keep paper from clogging up the landfills. Each time paper is recycled, the cellulose fibers get shorter to where eventually the paper won’t hold together. That is why most recycled paper used today contains some new paper fibers mixed in with the old.

Going back even further in history we found the first materials used for making paper was the papyrus plant which requires subtropical conditions to grow. Outside of the areas where the papyrus plants were grown papyrus paper was replaced by parchmet or vellum. Vellum is made of processed sheepskin or calfskin. Parchment is created by boiling and pounding the inner bark of trees, until the material becomes suitable for art and writing.

Paper made from wood products such as we have today has its beginnings in China. Prior to the development of paper made from wood products the Chinese used bamboo strips sewn together and rolled into a scroll. Also they sometimes used silk. Both of these ways did not work out well.

After looking at the history of papermaking we also decided to try some of the different suggestions for making other types of paper. This week we focused on using scrap fabric as the main material for making paper.

The fabric scraps needed to be no larger than one inch. Longer fibers can become tangled up around the blade in the blender. Our fabric choices included plain muslin, a blue print and a pink print. We used a rotary cutter and mat to cut up the fabric into about fourth inch strips. Then we cut the strips into short pieces no longer than one inch.

We made two paper pieces out of the muslin. The first we added short pieces of ribbon. To the second one we added short pieces of thread. We used multiple colors of both ribbon and thread.

For the paper made from the print fabrics we used mostly from the areas with just the background color and some from the areas with the print. This made the paper have one color for the background with only accents from the printed areas.

This is a fun project to consider for children during the summer break. They can do further research on the history of papermaking as well as try making their own paper.

Other summer activities for children can start the same way. They can pick a subject they are interested in, research it and then try making their own product. The ideas are endless. The goal is to have some fun and learn at the same time.