Paper making: History & process

11/29/2015

By Isabel Cervantes

I’m sure we all think of Egypt and papyrus when we think about the origins of paper, however, paper as it exists today traces back to China. Credit for the invention of paper was given to T’sai Lun, an official tied to the Imperial court during the Han Dynasty.
After beginning in China, the process spread across Asia, the Middle East, and then Europe. In each of those places the process was generally the same. It was the Arabian technique that the Italians improved upon by the use of water for power, a stamping mill, wire mesh molds and various other things.

At first, the process used old rags and plant based materials to produce paper. However, advances in the printing process created a larger demand for paper and thus a shortage of those raw materials. Then, with the invention of a wood grinding machine, came the use of wood based paper and the further mechanization of the whole process. In the traditional process, these materials were heated in a solution, beaten down into a pulp and then bleached to take color away or had color added. A mold with a wire screen, called a “deckle,” was dipped into the solution and pulled out horizontally in order to create a sheet of pulp on the screen. This sheet was then placed on felt or cloth and stacked with others to be pressed. After pressing, the sheets were hung to dry. The dry sheets were then adjusted to have preferred properties such as improved strength or reduced water absorbency.

As mentioned before, because of the growing demand for paper and the time it took to complete the traditional process, a faster more mechanized way was created. However, even in this modern day process you can see remaining traditional aspects. In this process quality is often measured by what percentage of the paper is not made of wood pulp which is the cheap alternative used in mass production,
Below are videos of the traditional process as it is carried out in some places in South Korea and also a video example of how paper is mass produced for purposes other than art.

As you can see, whether its the traditional way or the modern day way, the paper making process is not something that can be done in only one way. It is constantly being improved upon and has many levels of difficulty. You can even make your own paper at home from various recycled materials! In the end, the time consuming traditional ways of paper making across the world are worthy of appreciation.

References

1 http://www.paperonline.org/history-of-paper/timeline
2 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papermaking
3 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_nWOO10ODk
4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Kt5dHMBvYM
5 http://pix.avaxnews.com/avaxnews/46/e1/0001e146_medium.jpeg
6 http://origamibay.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/paper-making-in-5-steps.png
7 http://www.paperonline.org/uploads/images/paparmaking%20history.JPG

6 Comments

roisan rubio

12/1/2015 08:22:17 pm

As I mentioned in class, the papermaking class I took at ASU was the best class I ever taken anywhere--either on undergraduate or graduate level. It is fascinating to see T-shirts and jeans turn into pulp within an hour. I have no need for more handmade paper, so I am making 3-D vessels out of freshly couched paper.

I prefer Western method of making paper rather than those Asian methods that you emphasized. I find it easier and the paper is better quality when made from rags rather than from plant fibers. But I am sure that is a matter of experience.

Brandon Montgomery

12/1/2015 11:55:58 pm

This is pretty interesting. I've never looked into how paper was made but have been curious. After Roisan's description of the class, I may have to take it.

Natalie Walker

12/2/2015 05:52:22 pm

Wow, this was such a fascinating blog post. I would love explore papermaking and I wish I had more than one semester left of my college career. It was so cool to be able to watch the process. It's so fascinating that so many different things can be made into a pulp to create paper!

Nikki Villatoro

12/3/2015 09:51:58 pm

I learned about this in my Design History class, I loved the patience that came along with making paper. Can't believe you have to go through so many steps just to get paper. Nobody really every thinks about the process of it and are so quick to think of paper as such a minor thing but it's really fascinating. Especially the different textures of all the papers that are available.
Reading your research project makes me want to try making paper at home, thanks for sharing an interesting topic!

Christine Beatty

12/3/2015 10:45:11 pm

Such a beautiful process! I really wish I would still be at ASU to take the class next year. It's interesting that we have found such an efficient way to create paper and have stuck with it despite it's harm on the environment. It makes me wonder if there is a better way to mass-produce paper? Fake paper? I'm not really sure but maybe that will be a thing in the future.

Maryanna

12/3/2015 10:58:18 pm

Hi Isabel,
This was super informative on the way paper is made. I, for some reason, simply thought paper was generally made the same way as it was made when it was first invented in China. It was pretty interesting to know that all these cultures took part in shaping the paper making process. I actually took a 2D design class where I actually made paper using an old T-Shirt and a deckle. It was pretty fun and a lot easier than I thought! We even added some things like leaves and flowers :) I definitely recommend for everyone to take a class where you make paper or maybe try to find a tutorial online and try to make it yourself. It's so much more fun making art with paper you made yourself.

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Paper making: History & process

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