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The paper making process One ton of traditional Indian handmade paper,
produced from cotton rag waste, saves an estimated 277 Eucalyptus or 462 bamboo trees that
would be required to make the same quantity of conventional mill made paper. Surprising,
but it is true.The basic steps of recycled handmade paper making are described below.
SORTING & DUSTING
Both the raw material, waste cotton rags, and any added materials, such as flower petals or other
natural fibers, must be sorted by hand to remove foreign materials like plastics, dust, stalks and
leaves etc. that would contaminate the pulp, and cause imperfections in the paper.
RAG CHOPPING
RAG CHOPPING The sorted cotton rags are put through a mechanized rag chopper that cuts the rags into small uniform sized pieces.
In the past this process was done manually using a curved knife mounted on a wooden board.
BEATING
Beating is the most important step in the handmade paper making process. The chopped rags are
converted into a fine pulp in a ` Hollander Beater' and mixed with water. Inert chemicals, like rosin
soap and alum are added to give the paper the desired consistency and blot free characteristic.
When making colored and or textured papers, the color dyes and or textured materials like straw,
hemp, grass, silk and jute fibers etc., are added during this process. The resulting pulp is ready
for sheet formation.
COUCHING
The wet paper sheet is then transferred onto a cloth/felt piece of fabric,
a couch, which acts as an interleaf separating the wet sheets.
PRESSING
A manual/hydraulic press then squeezes out the excess water from the sheets.
This compresses the pulp adding strength to the fiber and facilitating the drying process.
Natural DRYING
Each sheet is dried in the open air. For colored papers drying in the shade, though slower,
is preferred in order to obtain uniform color on both sides of the sheet
PACKAGING, CLEANING AND SIZING
The sheets are then inspected for unwanted foreign matter. Small particles and dirt are removed
manually with a sharp instrument. The cleaned sheets are given a coating with starch to improve
the physical properties of the paper,prevent feathering and to make them blot-free.
CALENDERING
Each sheet is placed between metallic plates and passed through
spring loaded rollers in a calendering machine. When the paper
is passed between these rolls it increases its smoothness and glossy surface.
CUTTING
At this point the sheets are cut to whatever sizes the customer
desires. However, typically, the sheets are machine cut to a standard
22"x30" or 56x76 cm. size and then packed for shipment.
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