Okay, so now that I'm an official reporter for the HIA news, I've got share my obsession with making paper from plant fibers. I'm sure you all know that paper comes from plants. Most paper is made from trees. Most asian paper is made from kozo ( a relative of the mulberry). You can make paper out of almost any plant but some plants have more fibers than others. I just finished a batch of osage orange paper. Its in the mulberry family but has thorns on it. First you boil the branches, and peel off the bark and underlying fiber. Then you cook it in soda ash for about an hour. That breaks down the non fiber part fo the plant. THe bark is peeled off at this time. Next you blend the fiber and you have pulp and can go ahead and make paper.
My favorite papers so far come from milkweed bast fiber. Bast fiber comes from the stem of the plant. I've made paper from 4 species of milkweed and its all so different looking. Its soft as cotton. pretty incredible.
Okay. the agony from my foot injury is really killing me. I want pity.
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4 comments:
To my knowledge, the HIA News has never dispensed pity. Snark and drunken critiques perhaps, but not pity.
man, that IS rough, i can really relate to your pain considering all i have been through this january...see related hosiery story
i am glad you shared your papermaking experiences/knowledge. you should send me a little bit, and i can make something for you on it.
I really enjoyed papermaking Jeff, I'm glad you are taking it up. There is somethig really great and rewarding about producing something from simple fiber. I am impressed that you are experimenting with your local fibers-next time you are in Florida we'll get some bananna bast for you-there are tons of bast fibers here.
If you can find a copy of "Plant Fibers for Papermaking", by Lilian Bell-you might enjoy it. Lots of plant fiber expiramentation and has some plants that are in your reigon.
Are you using a blender or do you have access to a Hollander beater?
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