Originally, fiber...
Paper is a mat of plant fibres. The raw material is thus paper pulp, produced from a variety of fibres:
- Wood
- Fibrous plants such as cotton, hemp and flax
- Paper, for recycled paper
- Historically, textiles or rags
Did you know ?
Fight like rag "Who has not heard that phrase recalling many quarrels between the recovery of precious cloth! Legs, flags, Peille, drills ... tasty names to designate the raw material for paper Manufacturers of yesteryear. But beware, it uses only the beautiful cloth, clean, well sorted into categories according to its characteristics (brightness, color, ...)
From the book Art and Paper, Marie-Hélène Reynaud, Textual Editions
Why different types of fibres?
- Cotton, hemp, flax and rag contain very long and solid fibres. They mat better, thus making the paper very sturdy and long wearing.
- Resinous wood has longer fibres than those of deciduous trees.
- Wood fibres from deciduous trees have different structures, but are generally shorter.
Paper recipe
Paper pulp, in the form of sheets, is mixed with water. Then, ingredients are added to the pulp to give the paper the desired qualities for its future use:
- A small amount of mineral load (chalk, calcium carbonate, etc.) is added to give the paper its opacity and to enable it to keep its shape in all circumstances
- If required, colouring agents are added to colour the pulp
- The mixture is then coated with gelatine to control the bonding of the paper and penetration of the pigments used in watercolours.
Tips
How to recognize a piece of paper that is dyed at the pulp level or at a later stage of the manufacturing (on the surface)? Just tear the paper. The dyed paper is colored on the inside as well as on the surface . Otherwise the paper is a different than its core.
Recommended product:
1557® 180g/m²
