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Papermaking Processes

Paper is made from cellulose (plant) fibre, usually timber or cotton. Other fibres such as linen or rice may also be used. Handmade papers may incorporate a variety of unusual fibres for texture and interest. There are the two basic methods of paper production:

Handmade Papers are produced by breaking down the raw materials (usually cotton rags) mechanically in a beater, with water and any additives. The resulting pulp is lifted out on wire screen moulds and turned onto felt blankets, the water squeezed out and left to dry.

Machine Made Papers are usually produced by chemically breaking down the raw materials in a vat. The resulting pulp is sprayed onto a fast-moving (up to 2000m/min) screen. The water falls away, and the sheet is pressed smooth and dry between huge heated rollers.

Paper Pulps

Wood pulp is chemically processed and very acidic; these papers include cheap Cartridge and newsprint, which are fine for sketching and life drawing practice, but will rapidly degrade, becoming yellow, brittle and altering some pigments. 'Buffering' with calcium carbonate alters PH, which improves the paper, but this wears off over time. The lignin in wood pulp also breaks down over time and becomes acidic.

Wood and rag (cotton/linen) may be used in better quality, machine-made art papers. You can identify this paper as it will often have either no deckle, or deckles on two sides only (the edges having been sprayed to roughen them as the roll travels through the machine), and a dark watermark (compressed fibres, the mark pressed onto the formed paper) or none at all, and a 'grain' -it curls when damp (caused by the directional movement during production).

100 percent Rag fibre is used for the best handmade paper. It will usually have deckles (crinkly edges) on all four sides, formed as the pulp settles in the mould, a 'mesh' side (pattern from the mould) and a 'felt' side (the paper is turned onto felt blanket). The watermark, if any, will be lighter than the paper, made by a wire design on the mesh mould displacing the fibres. (NB: a watermark may not mean a superior paper: it is a part of the mould, and independent of the content of the pulp). The paper is finished by squeezing out the water. For hot pressed paper, heat is used during the finishing process, giving a smooth surface. For cold pressed paper, no heat is used, giving a rougher surface. Some mould paper production has now become automated.

Rag papers include brands such as Arches, Stonehenge and Rives, which offer 100% cotton, mould-made papers of superb quality. Bockingford make a wood pulp paper which is buffered and acid-free, archival quality paper. Some papers also use an embossed 'chop' mark rather than, or as well as, a watermark.

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