How to make Fine Handmade Paper without using wood pulp.

Paper can be made of many different plants and fibers. Wood is one of the most common ones because it's plentiful and relatively inexpensive. Since the fibers that are used to produce wood-based paper are a by-product of the lumber industry, making paper from wood is actually earth friendly and a wise use what might otherwise be burned. Bark, sawdust, shavings, milling waste are all unavoidable by-products when lumber is extracted for use as furniture, home constructions etc. So using it is actually a good thing. And should not be looked upon as negative or wasteful of a natural resource. The paper made of wood is considered to be a high quality and is used for such important daily purposes as computer paper, copier paper, notebook paper, etc.

In order to make wood-pulp paper of an even higher quality, rag is added. Rag is another name for cotton fibers or cotton linter. (See my guide on What is Cotton Linter? for more information about another very interesting fiber). High rag bond is a desirable, high quality paper with strength and purity of textures and color even though it is still a wood-based paper.

Now let's consider some other fibers that are used to produce paper totally free of wood. It is also possible to produce very fine paper using rag, cotton fibers or cotton linters alone. Our US Currency is made of cotton as well as many of our National Documents. Because they are written on 100% cotton fibers they have stood the test of time. Our currency is able to survive months of use rather than mere days if it were printed on ordinary wood-based paper. Cotton fiber is by nature acid free. And in so being, it is very durable, easily lasting for 100s of years with a bit of care.

But paper can be made of many fibers. Plants with a high fiber content usually makes wonderful paper. Some fibers require long and tedious processing, cooking, beating and so on,  in order to remove the softer plant materials from the fibers used to make the paper. Others like cotton simply needs to be beaten for long periods of time. The beating is usually done in a special machine designed specifically for that purpose. The fibers are placed in a large oval vat of water which slowly flows around in a circle, and over a beater drum. The fibers are beaten as the pass over the drum and then returned to the water vat again, where they slowly circulates around in a circle and are beaten again, over and over for hours or even days in some cases. The end product is a very fine, high quality fiber that has no wood in it at all. 

Other fibers such as mulberry, kenaf and kozo are processed and used to make paper. Even recycled fabrics like denim waste, left in the production of jeans and other clothing can be used to make beautiful wood-free paper.

Before we leave this interesting subject behind though, there is one quiet little secret that is seldom mentioned when discussing how to make paper without wood. What might that be? The fact that the best papermaking deckle/moulds are made of . . . . you guessed it, WOOD. Though other materials can be used to construct papermaking deckle/moulds, it is still a clear fact that the traditional, western-style, 2-piece wooden deckle/moulds with special stretched, attached synthetic screens makes the best papermaking tools for producing fine handmade paper. 

And finally, if all paper were to be produced of 100% non-wood fibers, the resulting paper would be so expensive that few would be able to use very much of it. Explore the possibilities. Certainly make paper out of all sorts of fibers and pulps. But don't forget to include wood pulp on the list of fibers that are useful, and desirable for making very high quality paper.  

Thank you for reading my guides on papermaking, soap making and other subjects. And as always, remember to Enjoy the process.