How to Laminate Paper Pulp

When you have a limited amount of paper pulp, but you want to make thick sheets of handmade paper, you can laminate freshly-pulled sheets together. Laminating paper while it is still in pulp form allows you to create custom sheets. This technique is not limited to creating thick sheets of handmade paper. Laminating together two different pulp colors results in two-tone paper, and if you're working with translucent pulp, you can sandwich collage materials between two freshly formed sheets.

Things You'll Need

• Paper pulp
• Vat
• Wooden board
• Thick acrylic felt
• Waterproof marker
• Mould and deckle

Instructions

1. Build a couching stand; this is where you will laminate sheets of paper pulp. The base should include a wooden board for support and two or three dampened sheets of thick polyester felt.

2. Place the mould, right side flat, against the felt. Use a waterproof marker to mark the frame's top and bottom and the front edge.

3. Add pulp and water to the vat and vigorously mix the pulp. Break up any clumps and disperse evenly throughout the water.

4. Fit the deckle, or frame, onto your paper making mould. Grip either side of the mould and deckle and submerge it in water, leading with the lower edge. As soon as your mould and deckle are completely submerged in your pulp and water mixture, pull them straight up and gently shake back and forth and front to back to evenly distribute the pulp.

5. Remove the deckle from the mould when the amount of water dripping from its underside begins to taper off. Angle the mould slightly to encourage more water to run off.

6. Couch your sheet. Position the right-hand edge along the guides and slowly push the left edge down, making sure the inner corner of the right edge remains in contact with the felt. As soon as the left edge touches the felt, begin lifting the right side.

7. Pull another sheet of paper in the fashion described above.

8. Couch this paper directly on top of the last to make a laminated sheet of paper pulp.

9. Place a fresh felt on top of your laminated paper pulp to separate it from the next sheet.