Why Your Recycled Handmade Paper Isn't Better Quality

Beginner PapermakingPapermaking Process
Written By May Babcock
 

Making recycled paper by hand

Questions that I get a lot are, why is my recycled handmade paper:

  • Breaking apart when cut

  • Not folding well

  • Too bumpy for calligraphy

  • Very thick and chunky

  • Not doing what I want it to do

  • Brittle and distengrating

There’s lots ‘o reasons why your eco-friendly paper that you made from waste paper scraps isn’t better quality. Don’t get me wrong, there is a lot of paper waste in the world to use up via papermaking. BUT sometimes, you need a higher-performing, reliable handmade paper. Something that doesn’t look like a chunky mess.

Here are 4 basic concepts to clear up the confusion:

Concept 1 - What happens when you make paper from paper

Making paper from paper will result in paper that is always weaker in strength compared to the original scrap paper.

Think about—you’re cutting it up, re-pulping it in water, shortening the fibers, and reforming the fibers together. That’s why many professional hand papermakers carefully choose their fiber sources, especially if they are using paper scraps. They understand the pros and cons in using scrap papers.

Concept 2 - What’s that scrap paper made from?

Most commercial paper nowadays is made from wood pulp (trees, y’all). It is a weak source for cellulose fiber. Cellulose fiber is what you need to make a sheet of paper, the stuff of paper itself.

📢 PSA: There are stronger sources of cellulose fiber than wood pulp papers.

For recycled papermaking, just look for papers that are made from rag, such as drawing, watercolor, and printmaking papers.

And if you get deeper into hand papermaking, you may find that…

  • In European papermaking traditions, you would typically use old cloth rags made from cotton, linen, or hemp fabric as your fiber source.

  • A common fiber source in some Eastern papermaking traditions is a plant called paper mulberry, aka kozo, which provides long, strong “bast” fibers.

Concept 3 - What’s in that scrap paper you’re using

You never quite know 100% what’s in that paper scrap you're pulping.

Commercial papers (like office paper) involve a lot of industrial processing and chemicals and bleaching and lots of other unpronounceable materials. There’s lots of mystery additives, brighteners, inks, who-knows-what in them that can do strange things to your paper pulp. Seriously, one time my pulp had a layer of murky dark foam at the top that I had to skim off (it was probably from the inks that were printed on the paper). These additives can also make your paper disintegrate over time. Think about old newspapers, and how they turn yellow and brittle. Yes? Yes.

Concept 4 - How exactly are you processing the recycled scraps?

Oh boy. So, this is a whole can of worms. If you’re starting from reputable recycled papers, that’s step 1.

Then, you have choices to make along the way that affect the quality of your handmade paper. This includes:

  • the equipment you’re using to pulp the fiber

  • your technique in forming the sheet

  • the materials you use to ‘couch’ the paper

  • how you’re pressing the paper

  • and where/how you’re drying the paper

…all which are factors in how strong, thin/thick, evenly textured, and flexible your handmade paper is.

I hope that gives you a better inkling as to why your recycled handmade paper isn’t doing what you want it to do.

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May Babcock
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Recycled materials that you can turn into handmade paper