Directions on How to Make Homemade Paper

Handmade paper with flower petals.

Making paper at home is creative, since you can make so many different kinds, and it is "green," since it's a form of recycling. Follow the basic steps for paper-making at home a few times until you feel comfortable with the process. Then you can add fibers from fabric, flower petals and seeds, leaves, glitter or anything else that your imagination can envision for handmade paper.

Things You'll Need

• Staples or tacks
• Plain wooden picture frame to fit the size of paper you want to make
• Window screening, cut a little larger than the picture frame
• Paper such as newsprint, construction paper, old greeting cards, paper bags and office paper
• Blender
• Dishpan large enough to hold the entire picture frame
• Liquid starch
• Rectangles of felt or flannel fabric a little larger than the mold
• Sponge
• Two cookie sheets
• Weight such as a couple of bricks or a heavy frying pan
• Clothes line and clothes pins

Instructions

1. Staple or tack the window screen as tightly as possible on all four sides of the picture frame. Trim the edges. This is your mold.

2. Tear paper into small pieces and fill the blender lightly about half full. Add warm water to nearly fill the blender. Blend on low speed until the paper is completely pulped and no bits of paper remain.

3. Fill the dishpan about half full with warm water. Add one to three batches of paper pulp from the blender. The more pulp you add, the thicker your paper will be. Add 2 teaspoons of liquid starch and stir.

4. Submerge the mold into the dishpan screen side up and hold it level. Shake it gently from side to side until the pulp on top of the screen looks even. Lift the mold out of the dishpan and allow it to drip.

5. When the mold stops dripping, lay the felt or flannel carefully across the pulp and gently pat it in place. Carefully turn the mold and fabric upside down, so the fabric is on the bottom, the pulp in the middle and the mold on top.

6. Use the sponge to press out as much water as possible. Carefully lift the mold off the fabric and pulp, peeling the fiber and pulp off the mold. Place them, fabric side down, on a cookie sheet. Smooth out any bubbles.

7. Repeat until you run out of pulp. Keep stacking the fabric and paper on the cookie sheet so you have layers of fabric between the sheets of paper. Place a final layer of fabric on the top of the stack. Place the second cookie sheet and a weight such as bricks on top of the stack to press out as much water as possible.

8. Remove the weight from the stack after a few minutes, when no more water is draining out. While the paper is still wet, separate the sheets and hang them to dry with clothes pins on a clothes line. Peel the paper off the fabric once they are dry.

Tips & Warnings

• Divide the steps over two days. Make the mold, cut fabric squares and gather supplies on one day, make your pulp and practice making paper on another day.

• This is a creative endeavor, so give yourself time to develop your skill.

• Hang the wet paper to dry inside your house, not outside where the wind can blow it away.

• This process can be pretty messy. Spread a plastic bag over your table or work surface. Consider putting the stack of paper and fabric in the bathtub when you add the weight to press out the excess liquid.

References

• Pioneer Thinking: Making Paper
• EcoKids Club: Save Trees by Making Your Own Recycled Paper

Resources

• "The Papermaker's Companion"; Helen Hiebert; 2000