Linters
are pulps made from a variety of natural fibres, partially beaten
and formed into dry sheets that resemble ‘blotting paper’.
You simply tear them up, soak them overnight and then blend them
with a food blender to create paper ‘porridge’.
Each has been chosen for the qualities it can bring to paper.
Cotton
Linters are made from very short fibres and will create a
smooth paper with strength, durability and permanence. The stock
from Esparto
(a desert grass) forms well on the mould and deckle because of
free drainage and uniform fibre length. The papers have good opacity
and smoothness, and are relatively lint-free. The long fibre from
Abaca
stems (also known as Manila Hemp) produce a strong and highly
porous paper, used in manufacturing to produce tea bags and Manila
envelopes.
Creating Handmade Paper
You will need:
- Pulp
crumble/linters/recycled waste papers,
- a mould
and deckle,
- a washing up bowl,
- 2 wooden boards (for pressing excess water from paper)
- couching
cloths
- a handheld blender/liquidiser
- newspaper/protective table covering
Preparation
Cover your work surfaces with newspaper or a protective cover.
If using linters, tear into strips and soak them overnight in
cold water.
Step 1
Empty the pulp crumble into a washing up bowl half full of
warm water. Using a hand held blender, blend for 10-15 seconds.
The pulp should look like porridge and feel like silk. Repeat
this process if lumps remain, (if using linters or recycled
papers, blend in the goblet of a liquidiser which is half-filled
with water, but be careful not to overload).
Step 2
Prepare a couching mound by folding 2/3 sheets of newspaper
into eighths. Place these on top of your work surface and cover
with a sheet of unfolded newspaper. Put a couching cloth on
top of the pile and wet the lot.
The purpose of this couching mound is to ease the wet pulp
off the mould after all the sheets have been made.
Every time you make a new sheet of paper, you need to put down
a new couching cloth to receive it (it is a good idea to have
a supply of them at the ready).
Step 3
You are now ready to make a sheet of paper. Go back and stir
your pulp, which will by now have settled unhelpfully at the
bottom of the bowl.
Hold the mould and deckle firmly together, mould side up, deckle
on top. Plunge them at 45 degrees into the gently swirling pulp
mixture, at the far side of the bowl, and gently bring them
towards you, still under the surface, until horizontal.
Step 4
Lift the mould and deckle horizontally out of the bowl, allowing
the water to drain through the mesh. Gently shake them as you
lift, side to side and back to front, to realign the fibres.
The sheet is 90% water at this stage.
Remove the deckle and allow surplus water to drain away.
Step 5
Place the long edge of the mould along the side
of the couching mound. Roll the wet pulp firmly off the mound
and bring the mould down firmly along its outer edge. Try to
do this in one confident movement. This is easier than it looks.
The trick is to push down at the beginning and pull up at the
end, transferring your weight from one side of the frame to
the other in an even, continuous movement.
Step 6
Cover the paper with a couching cloth and press it between
two boards. You may choose to stack several wet sheets of paper,
one on top of the other, like a pile of pancakes, before pressing.
Dry your paper by either leaving it to dry flat on a sheet
of newspaper or by hanging it out on the washing line (in both
cases still keep it on the couching cloth).
When dry, turn it face down and remove the cloth from the paper
and press overnight beneath a heavy weight.
Experimenting
Add
texture and detail to your pictures by adding petals or threads
to the pulp.
Create a watermark by stitching a wire shape to your mesh. Less
pulp will cling to the wire, creating a watermark in the mirror
image of your shape.
To vary the texture, try drying the paper on the mould itself,
or pressing between old blankets and curtains.
Seal the paper by spraying the dry sheet with spray-on starch,
so you can then write or paint on it.
