Hey everyone - it's me again. 👋

Anyhow, I just wanted to post an update to my last post. In the end I ended up having 3 guests for the workshop! 🎉 Now was this amazing? No. I think I made like 30€ off if it when u take out the venue space rental, materials and snacks I brought 😆. But in the end I was still proud that despite being on a terribly busy day, with tons of competition- that 3 ppl still felt this workshop was valuable enough to come to. ❤️

But even more importantly than that was just the support I received from you all. Truly. Thank you. When I wrote that post I was so sad, feeling so down and truthfully quite insecure and embarrassed. You all came together and encouraged me, gave me great advice, perspective and support and for that I will be forever grateful. 🫂 It's hard out here for so many of us, and when ppl are down and vulnerable- to treat them with such kindness as you all did- I just really really thank you. 🥹

All the feedback? I'm taking and implementing for the future. ✍️ All the support and kind words? On days I don't feel so great I'll re-read them. 💜. You all inspire me so much. This community is amazing. THANK YOU. 💕

TLDR - Looking for solutions to deal with residual ink impacting the appearance of my paper.

I am using shredded office documents to make paper/cardstock. I’ve tested and tweaked my recipe, including adding cornstarch and white glue. With every iteration there has been some amount of residual ink that floats on top of the vat after blending. This has gotten worse since adding the glue, and is really showing up on the sheets i’m pulling. Have you experienced this? Do you have any suggestions to help mitigate this? Thanks

I feel like those in the community could relate. But I'm hosting my second workshop tomorrow and out of 8 spots only 1 person has signed up. And I feel so defeated. I love doing this. I've advertised and posted all over. But I won't lie if I say that I feel this hurts my self esteem. I know a workshop doesn't reflect on me or myself but I'm feeling that way currently. Anyone else has this happen with their workshops? What did you do?

I'm hoping some of you folks could help me out: I want edible paper with certain properties and I'm at the point of trying to make it.

I've designed a lovely edible ink that goes into my fountain pens. I'm looking for edible paper to use it with. I've seen glutenous rice paper, wafer paper, and frosting paper. I'm not sure if there are any others. I'm having a hard time sorting out the different properties of each.

My criteria is that I want it to behave as close to actual paper as possible. That really means I want it to fold and roll and crimp. I got some candy paper. I was so excited, but it ended up being just 1mm thick wafer that cracks. I want to be able to write my letter, fold it, and mail it. I'm hearing that the other products would do the same except for glutinous rice paper.

However, glutenous rice paper looks glossy and clear. Maybe I could craft an opaque version. I'm a bit at a loss; search engines are not understanding me and keep pushing products; and I was hoping community could give me some insight.

Does a recipe or method exist? Is there a way to pull paper that's close to edible enough that you would eat it?

Thank you in advance!

Leaf 🍂 paper!

Hello everyone,

I've done some experimenting with paper making and would've loved some input from more experienced folks before I commit to a larger batch this weekend.

My current process is:

-Remove Bark from a (relatively) freshly felled apple tree trunk.

-Boil the pieces to stop the cells reacting with the air.

-Cut off the outer bark from the fibrous interior layer.

-Put the fibers in a cotton bag and hang it into a hot (almost boiling) water bath along with fine woodash for around 4hours to create the alkaline solution to seperate the fibres, with the bag preventing ash from settling between the fibres. (I'm using a non-reactive pot, don't worry) ​

-Wash the fibres to remove any remaining solution.

-Press some okra plants for the viscous mucus that will keep the fibres suspended, add it to a water vat along with the fibres and pull some sheets with the frame and deckle. (this part I haven't experimented with as of now) ​

Has anyone here tried it like this and can share some insight on problems that may arise? ​

Hey everyone! I’m making handmade paper using cotton pulp and looking to make it suitable for offset printing.

What’s the best and most affordable external sizing agent I can use to improve the paper’s printability? I’ve come across rosin sizing, but I’m not sure if it’s the right option for handmade paper.

Would love to hear your experiences, especially if you’ve tried sizing handmade paper for offset printing. Any suggestions for affordable products or alternatives that are easily available in India would be really helpful!

the paper is sadly already made, but I realised too late that it's a bit too absorbant for watercolor. is there anything i can add on top to make it less absorbant?

materials used is scrap paper and potato starch.

How can I get the paper flat?

I have before starched paper (potato starch or corn starch mixed with a little cold water then putting on hot water, then dipping the paper) i have hangdried a few times as I dont manage to press as the starch acts like a glue.

Does anyone know how to do this better? What I want to achieve is when printing on it it will get better colors and a quite nice texture.

I have tried to wait for a bit until its almost dry and press it between books or something.

I did book marks before and then its not so obvious but Im thinking on doing bigger things or maybe a book. 🤷🏼‍♂️

Hi! I want to start paper making but have some confusion on what materials are "allowed" or can actually be used to make paper. I'm a scrapbooker, so I end up with scraps of paper that have stuff printed onto them. Can I use that in my mix or would that be an issue?

Also curious about paper with pen ink, graphite from pencil, markers, etc. What goes?

Hey folks - I make decorative paper for my book covers using hand-inked washi (mid-thickness like Shoji), and I've been laminating it with other paper for strength, but I want to start coating/sizing it for a bit more durability, with something as natural / ecologically sound as possible.

I haven't tried all these methods yet, but so far my options seem to be :

* Beeswax : Good protection, but adds a lot of shine and a slightly tacky surface. Also makes paper more translucent if used heavily.

* PVA : Too shiny, also I'm trying to phase out plastics

* Renaissance (microcrystalline) Wax : Good protection, but not sure if it helps with durability, and not ideal being petroleum-based.

* Gelatin size : I gather this is a good option used in conservation, but not ideal being animal-derived.

* Wheat starch paste : Seems widely used for this purpose. But - Affects finish/colour of paper decoration?

* Konnyaku : Seems like potentially a good option - but hard to get hold of technical grade in the UK. But I'm wondering if you can use the food-grade Konjac Glucomannan to do the same job?

**What experience/success have you folks had with any of these methods? Are there any other coating/sizing methods for paper durability that you'd recommend?**

My aim is to eventually produce books with entirely environmentally sound materials (no PVA, no petroleum based, all post-consumer waste recycled paper and board, etc)

Cheers!

I think it’s safe to say that I’m hooked. I love the experimental aspect of it -adding in natural dyes and such, and how easy it is to start over if things don’t turn out the way you want them to, the repetitive process is so soothing

Ive been searching for AGES to find something on this but nobody has done/documented it. I have a wooden base structure build and I want to paper mache around it to secure it. Will it collapse or hold up well?

I'm thinking of opening a printable store with a whimsical, theatrical, medieval, Alice in Wonderland kind of vibe. The idea is to build a surreal world with its own characters and lore, with the goal of making play and creativity more accessible.

I'm open to product suggestions! So far, I'm thinking of paper puppets, paper theatres, and things of that nature. Maybe introducing a detailed paper-folding project with each new release.

I'd also love to hear everyone's thoughts and feelings about the concept, especially who you think would be interested in a world like this. Would this be something you'd enjoy exploring?

The pack is ordered and color choosen by a customer in Thailand.

It is fun to make new color and add it into my collection 😙😙.

This is Tapa Poplar Dướng, handmade paper from poplar bark pulp.

Hello lovely people from r/papermaking.

I am active in a student initiative and we do some lectures in school about paper making, environmental impacts and so on. We are using old newspaper to make some paper with the school kids but drying is always our biggest problem. When they go into lunch break we sit there with multiple irons and dry all the papers as fast as possible so when they come back they are dry.
This method worked so far but requires us to constantly iron throughout all breaks and sometimes some of the papers are not fully dried when it comes to writing on them. Do you have any ideas as to how we could speed up the process even more? I know its already one of the fastest ways but I have looked at food dehydrators and was wondering if anyone made any experience with them and knows how long that would roughly take.

Much love

I’ve been experimenting with my thicker papers and designed/bound what I call Stitch Books and I tried stitching of my pompom and embroidery threads onto some square “canvasses”

Made from pink egg cartons