Lesson 5

Making Paper Pulp

Step 1 – Soak the paper

Making Paper Pulp - Step 1 - Soaking the paper

• Gather up paper from your recycle bin if you want (if you want your paper pulp to be white, then use printer paper)
• Tear it into small pieces – about 1” or less  ( or put it through your shredder)
• Soak for 24 hours ( at least) in hot water to start

Step 2 – Blend the soaked paper

Making Paper Pulp – Step 2 – Blending the Paper

• If possible, blend the soaked paper until fibers have broken down (it can be done by hand but it a lot of time)

Step 3 – Strain the blended paper

Making Paper Pulp – Step 3 – Straining the Paper

• Strain the resulting mush, through a cloth, into another bowl.  Twist the cloth to squeeze out as much water as you can.  (Throw the water away outside if possible – it will probably have fine paper particles in it, and you don’t want them in your drain if you can help it)
• Put the resulting fiber mass into the original bowl (now clean) and break into small pea sized pieces.  This can be stored in an airtight bag or container until class time.

Step 4 – Adding glue

Making Paper Pulp – Step 4 – Adding glue

• The final step in making your paper pulp mixture is to add white glue or paste to the pea sized pieces of paper fiber that you have created from the above steps.
• You are going to use the glue to reconstitute them into a fibrous mash or pulp and that is what we will use to make the vessel
• Pour the glue on to the raw paper pulp pieces and begin kneading the paper with your fist.  Disposable gloves are useful for this part of the process since the glue is quite sticky.  Continue kneading until you have a fairly smooth, consistent, dough-like mass.  Add glue as necessary.
• You should not be able to feel or see individual pieces of paper.
•  Continue kneading until all the pulp stays together in a ball and feels smooth.

 

Preparing Your Mold

• Wrap your mold (plastic bowl) in plastic wrap and secure with masking tape on the inside of the bowl.

 

Applying Paper Pulp

Making a Paper Pulp Vessel

• You can flatten larger pieces of pulp in your palm and lay/press them on the mold with your thumbs
• You can break off pieces of pulp and press them on the mold with your fingers or thumbs
• Try to keep the application depth regular to aid in the drying process
• You can lightly dampen your fingers and pat over the applied pulp to smooth out the applied pieces of pulp
• You can use a piece of damp cloth to pat the surface of the pulp to smooth out the texture of the pulp after you have applied it
• If you plan on having holed for stitching or design work, you need to create them while the pulp is still wet. 
• You can create stitching holes using an awl working from the outside of the mold.  Once the vessel is released it is then easy to finish the hole while the interior of the vessel is still damp.

 

Drying Time

Paper pulp takes time to dry.  Wait at least 24 hours before trying to release the vessel from the mold.  Once released the vessel will need at least 48 hours to dry thoroughly.  Keep turning the vessel to make sure that all surfaces are exposed to the air.  The thicker the layer of pulp, the longer the vessel will require to dry.

 

Adding Colour

Colour can be added to the glue.  Acrylic paint or dye can be added to the glue and mixed into the pulp at that stage. The colour would then be throughout the entire vessel.

The vessel can be painted once dry with acrylic paint if desired.

 

Extra –Paper Pulp Dipping