Fine Handmade Paper. Why not use Newspaper?
Newspapers are abundant. The paper is free and no longer considered to be of any value the moment the sun rises and a new edition is available.

But, why not use it? After all, isn't it earth friendly to recycle paper? Yes, it is. So, let's look at what newspaper is.

NEWSPAPER: (A.K.A. newsprint which is newspaper that has been recycled.) The truth is that ALL Newspaper is recycled, because all newspapers are printed on newsprint, or recycled newspapers. It is paper that has been recycled, at least once, but often many times.

Now let's consider a simple test of the quality of your morning newspaper. What happens to your newspaper when it spends the day on your driveway? On a sunny day, by the end of the day, it has turned yellow. On a rainy day, it gets wet and becomes a solid mass of mush. Even if you try to dry it out, the pages are stuck together so you can't read it. That's because newsprint is the lowest quality paper available and not a good choice for making fine quality handmade paper.

In the fine art workshops I teach, I highly recommend that the students avoid the use of newsprint completely. Why? Because I expect every one of them to advance so much during the first 3 classes that they will want to frame and display their artwork. And over 97% of them do. If they happen to be using newsprint when they create a piece of art that they want to hang, it will soon turn yellow like the newspaper on the driveway. And after a few years it will fade and crumble into small pieces right in the frame. What a sad thing to have happen to a beautiful drawing. Thank goodness there was on newsprint around 1497AD or we would not have the wonderful sketches of Michelangelo, had he be able to get a newsprint tablet of paper to do it preliminary work on.

Paper made of recycled newspaper is never white, but rather a dull grayish white. It has been recycled perhaps several times already. And it cannot produce a high quality paper. Again, that's because it is the lowest quality paper available, and never a good choice for artwork, or fine paper crafting of any kind.

Because of its low quality, I recommend never using newsprint at all for anything related to the production of fine artwork. There are too many other fibers available that will produce superior quality pulp and paper to use one that is never going to have any quality.

The only time it could be used would be if it is hidden inside of several layers of quality paper. For example, if a person must use recycled newspaper, then consider using it for the inside layers when making 3-D art pieces, vessels and bowls. These require several layers of pulp. Therefore some of the layers that will be covered by many layers of higher quality pulp or fibers. If you are planning to produce a very large, thick piece that will have a heavy coating of several layers of quality fibers, perhaps newsprint might be used. Otherwise, avoid it in favor of finer quality.

Enjoy the process!