Environmentally Sound Hand Made Paper
by Ray Bliss Rich
 | The foundation of all my artwork is my finely crafted hand pulled paper. I begin my paper making by collecting plant materials such as knotweed, iris and lily leaves, marsh grasses, and cattails. I chop these materials into short sections and cook them in an alkali solution to neutralize any acids and establish a neutral ph. I buffer with calcium carbonate if necessary to achieve a neutral ph. I then beat these materials into pulp. I also utilize cotton rags from discarded clothing which does not require cooking.
Left foreground: three sheets of knotweed paper; the middle one being bleached as pulp.
Left background: white sheet of abaca with knotweed inclusions, with blue denim paper fore & aft. |
NOTE: I consider my paper ecologically sound because I use invasive plant species like Japanese knotweed... and abundant self sustaining (organic) native plant species like cattail plants... and I recycle used cotton clothing (including denim jeans and t-shirts) to make my unusual hand crafted hand made papers.
Materials Used for Hand Made Paper
I am currently making my own paper with cotton rags, various local plant materials, and manila hemp. I get my cotton rags by recycling cotton clothing; including shirts and jeans. I purchased a Hollander beater to beat these into a fine pulp suitable for making paper. This machine is also useful for beating up many of the tough plant fibers I use, such as dried knotweed.
Plant materials that I am using for my hand made paper include knotweed, cattails, iris and lily leaves, and marsh grasses. I have used the knotweed and cattails in both green and winterkilled (dried) forms. I also use the winterkilled knotweed as an interesting inclusion in my art papers (i.e.: those I paint and nature print on).
I try to practice both environmentally and ethically sound behaviors in collecting plant materials for paper making. I have contacted state agencies to insure that none of the plants I collect are at risk or endangered. I go to town offices to find names and contact information on land owners when necessary so I may solicit permission to collect plants. Or I simply knock on doors when ownership seems obvious. As more people become aware of what I am doing I get many offers to collect plants or donations of clothing for my paper making.
I was fortunate to get a large quantity of manila hemp fiber from a supplier going out of business; so I'm now using that as the base fiber for the sheets I paint on. I always use winterkilled (dried) knotweed as an inclusion. I am also using cotton and silk threads, mylar threads, gold leaf and mica fragments as inclusions in these sheets. Once this supply of manila hemp is used up I will concentrate on plants I am able to collect locally and recycling used clothing.
The blue denim paper shown in the picture above is actually 2/3 blue denim and 1/3 cattail. I included the cattail fiber to get a crisper sheet. I achieve various shades of denim papers depending on the condition of the used jeans and the proportions of any other fibers I may include. Well worn stonewashed denim jeans results in a soft powder blue paper. Addition of cattail fibers darken those a bit. Black denim jeans yield an indigo paper. Because the denim is so densely woven and the threads so tightly wound, beating denim takes 2-3 hours in the Hollander. The more worn the jeans the less the beating time.
I particularly enjoy working with the stalk and leaves of the cattail plant because it gives a high yield. That is; I get greater volume of pulp from the same weight of raw fiber compared to other plants I've tried. Because the cattail is a delicate plant it beats to a fine pulp from which I can pull a very thin but strong sheet.
I have found that winter killed (dried) knotweed produces a very coarse fiber that is better suited as an inclusion in lighter sheets than as the base fiber for paper. However; Gin Petty of Kentucky told me the short spring shoots of knotweed produced a finer pulp that pulled into beautiful sheets of paper. After giving them a try I found that to be exactly right. And bleaching that fiber as pulp, before pulling sheets of paper, revealed a beautiful golden sheet.
Because I am interested in the ethics of plant gathering; I have contact state agencies re: protected as well as invasive species in New Hampshire, and I have solicited property owner permission to gather plants for paper making.
Equipment & Process
 | Shown left is my Hollander beater used to grind tough plant fibers and recycled clothing into pulp for paper making. This unique machine, known as a critter, was made by paper maker Mark Lander of New Zealand. He began making them to satisfy his own need for an affordable and portable Hollander; and once the word got out he's been shipping them all over the globe. The one I have is know as a 3/4 pounder; meaning it will accommodate approximately 3/4 pound of dry material per beating session. As you can see; it has a flexible tub and metal beater assembly. I mounted an old electric motor [top left] to make the roll turn. More information is provided below next to the picture that shows the construction of the roll. |
In addition to the Hollander beater, a machine that grinds tough fibers into pulp, I use a kitchen blender and a hand drill paint stirrer to rehydrate dried pulp. Drying pulp is a good way to store it for later use.
I use large plastic tubs as vats and several buckets for transferring pulp from the Hollander to the vat. I used to use a large strainer to remove excess water from pulp that I wanted to store for later use; but now use paint strainer bags as recommended by folks on the yahoo papermakers' discussion group. With these bags you can squeeze excess water from the pulp to dry it for later use.
I have an electric hot plate, and large stainless steel stock pot, to cook plant fibers prior to beating. Actually; I now get the mix started with a propane camping stove and transfer it to the hot plate to simmer. I have made molds (a frame with screen) in several sizes for different size sheets; including circular sheets. I also made deckles to use with the molds, when I need thicker sheets, or to pull more than one sheet at a time, but rarely use them.
| Shown right is the roll of my Hollander beater without the splash guard in place [see splash guard in photo above]. As you can see it has large teeth. Below the roll is a curved plate with deep grooves. The turn screw to the right of the roll adjusts how close the roll is to the plate. The plastic tub is filled with water, the roll is begun to spin, and materials to be ground are introduced into the tub next to the beater assembly. The rotation of the roll creates a current that draws the materials around through the beater assembly; where it is beaten between the roll and the plate. As the material is beaten I adjust the roll closer and closer to the plate until I get as fine a pulp as required for my paper. Of course; I do this with the splash guard in place to keep the water and pulp in the beater. |  |
When I use natural plant materials, they must be cooked in an alkali solution for up to 5 or 6 hours, to remove acidic elements thus enhancing their archival properties. This cooking process, and subsequent rinsing, takes place before the materials are beaten into pulp. I always cook plant materials outdoors because of the noxious odor involved. The plant materials are cut into short [approx. 1"] pieces before cooking. Some thicker materials may also be split lengthwise before cooking. I sometimes buffer my pulp with calcium carbonate, in the beater, if test strips dictate.
Cotton rags do not require the cooking process described above. However, I have discovered that I need to wash cotton garments without detergent, to get rid of any residual detergents already in the fabric, before beating them in the Hollander. Although there is time saved in not having to cook rags; I find that most clothing scraps require more time in the Hollander to get a pulp fine enough for paper making.
Once I finish beating the materials the pulp is transfer to a plastic tub (referred to as a vat) which has water in it. I add pulp to the water until I achieve the pulp density needed for the thickness of sheet desired. As I pull sheets of paper from the vat, more pulp will need to be added periodically, to maintain the pulp density needed. After pulling a sheet from the vat, water is allowed to drain from the mold, and the sheet is then transferred to a felt. Felts with freshly pull sheets are stacked and then excess water is drained from them by use of a press. The sheets are then hung on the felt to dry or brushed against a board to dry. The last sheet pulled for the day is left on the mold to dry. This provides a sheet with greater texture than those pressed and dried on the felt or board.
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Pictured right is my drying rack for board dried sheets.
It is made from 2x2" and 2x4" lumber with bent finish nails as hangers. I glued each joint and used long screws. Using bent finish nails as hangers was an economy step which I may change to screw eyes later. I think screw eyes would help insure the boards were not blown off the hooks by a wind gust.
The boards are plexiglas and another variety of plastic board. Varnished plywood could be used but I find the plexiglas easy to work with. The biggest problem is drilling holes in the plexi, to hang on the nail hooks, without chipping it. I recommend first drilling a very small pilot hole; then going larger in two steps of drill bit size.
You can see the felts overlapping the plexi boards; but the pulp is not. I leave the felt on until the sheet is dried. I have found no problem with this arrangement. My largest mold, covered with pulp, is resting on top of the rack. The largest sheet I'm currently making is 16x22".
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Up to this point in time I have not sold my paper for others use; having used it all for my own works of art.
However; as of spring 2008 I am offering certain papers for purchase. These include the very popular recycled denim jeans paper and small sheets of manila hemp paper. Shipments always depend on availability so feel free to inquire as to what is currently available. Stonewash denim sheets are offered in 6" x 8" sheets for $3. per sheet with a 6 sheet minimum... and manila hemp in 4" x 6" sheets for $1. each with a 20 sheet minimum. These are excellent for scrap booking, hand made cards, and whatever else you come up with.
For information on how I use my papers go to:
Original Paintings
To see how I used my blue denim paper on the cover of my hand crafted book on gyotaku click here.
Feel free to e-mail any questions you may have...
Ray Bliss Rich, artist
Meditations on Paper
P.O. Box 1167 - Hillsboro, NH 03244
Thank you for your interest in my environmentally sound hand made paper.
