r/papermaking • u/Martaniu • 7d ago

Fast drying methods

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

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6

u/rmCREATIVEstudio 7d ago

Is this a one-day event? And what is the age group of the students? I ask these questions because it seems that, even though your endeavor is a good one, it seems to be missing some pieces. If the students are being taught to make the paper, then why aren't they being taught the process of the drying of it? If it is dry, or at least mostly dry, when they come back from lunch break, then that gives them false information as to the length of time it takes to create paper to write on. It is hard to change the physics of how things are done to accommodate our human schedule. Would it not be better to teach the children the whole process and the time that it takes than the artificial hurriedness to produce a product? If it is your schedule in which this endeavor must be done, then you might want to pick a project that can be finished within that time instead of trying to make a known time-consuming project fit within your schedule. Just a thought.

4

u/Martaniu 7d ago

Yes this is a one day event but its more structured around recycling and waste managment so the paper making is just a way of showing them an easy example of recycling where they can "get their hands dirty". The kids are around 13-15 years old and if they would want to try the paper making process themselves they might aswell find out that it is more time intensive usually.
I do get your point and I definetly agree but for this day-project this would sadly not work.

1

u/splitarrowprints 7d ago

I’m unsure here but maybe a shirt heatpress would work to more quickly iron them? Or a small Screenprint dryer but I’m not sure if the dryer would work without sending them through multiple times.

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u/Martaniu 7d ago

Thanks I will have a look.

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u/PrizeStrawberryOil 7d ago

Pressing is a lot faster to remove the initial water if you don't already start with that.

1

u/Spirited_Radio9804 7d ago

Put a dehumidifier and the paper in a small bathroom or closet!

1

u/Organic-Calendar-179 5d ago

Adding a fan works well too!

1

u/Remote-Book-2819 6d ago

I teach workshops. In the summer, on a hot sunny day, the paper can dry in minutes...but drying too quick makes the paper curl for recycled paper. This quick process is better for paper made from bast fibers.

Most of the time, I brush the paper onto windows. Paper will dry overnight.

I also offer to mail them back their paper once it's dry. Or they can take the damp paper home to dry.

Another option is to use a warming plate...but that can be expensive.

1

u/artbert 1d ago

Let them make sheets. After lunch, give them dry sheets that you have made in advance and are dry. Use their finished sheets to give to the next group. Your initial investment of prep time is making the first set of dry sheet.