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Paper Making For Kids From Wood With Baking Soda?
Hi there!
I'm a Dad who is getting ready to visit a cottage with his daughter and other relatives. Thinking about maybe trying to make some paper. And have some nice downloads from the web for this. Wondering if we could do this directly from grasses or wood. Maybe some old rotton poplar trees. Mash 'em up, boil 'em up and then you can do the paper thing. YOUR QUESTION (Mr./Ms. Phelps!): To make paper you need to get the lignin glue out of the fibers. Apparently either a strong acid or a strong base will do this. Typically, in a hobby type situation, you would use lye. Is it possible to use something a little less dangerous. I mean, having to wear gloves and goggles doesn't sound like much fun. Would lemon juice or vinegar or baking soda work (well, not at the same time)? Look forward to any thoughts! John-In-Toronto |
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#3
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JMorris wrote:
Hi there! I'm a Dad who is getting ready to visit a cottage with his daughter and other relatives. Thinking about maybe trying to make some paper. And have some nice downloads from the web for this. Wondering if we could do this directly from grasses or wood. Maybe some old rotton poplar trees. Mash 'em up, boil 'em up and then you can do the paper thing. YOUR QUESTION (Mr./Ms. Phelps!): To make paper you need to get the lignin glue out of the fibers. Apparently either a strong acid or a strong base will do this. Typically, in a hobby type situation, you would use lye. Is it possible to use something a little less dangerous. I mean, having to wear gloves and goggles doesn't sound like much fun. Would lemon juice or vinegar or baking soda work (well, not at the same time)? Look forward to any thoughts! Paper making from wood is, as you note, a messy process that requires strong chemicals. Lemon juice and vinegar probably won't do the trick. It also requires high temperatures, and that alone poses some risks. A better choice for kids might be making paper from ... paper! Gather up junk mail and other recyclable paper (not the glossy magazine stuff, which is coated with clay), an old blender you won't want to use for food again, a piece of window screen in a wooden frame and a large, flat tub (Rubbermaid makes some flat storage boxes that work great for this. Tear the paper into small pieces (a good job for kids!) and whir it up in the blender with a couple of cups of water till it turns to a grey-ish pulp. If you want to color it, add torn pieces of common colored construction paper. Fill the tub half-full of water and stir in the pulp mixture. Keep stirring while you slip the screen under the water and pulp and bring it straight up to catch a screenful of pulp. Let it drain for a while, then turn it out onto a dish towel or some other absorbent surface; continue drying in the sun and - voila! Instant paper (although the first few attempts will probably be more like cardboard in texture). You can add leaves, grasses, flower petals, seeds and other things into the pulp, or press it into the surface of the wet paper, to make "nature paper." This is a great outdoor activity and one kids really seem to like. My description is sketchy, but you can find more detailed ones by googling for "handmade paper" and "instructions". Have fun! -- Pat Kight |
#4
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I remember in my lost youth, making paper pulp from old good-quality paper
churned up in a blender. Then a stocking stretched over a frame was used to make the paper itself. "JMorris" wrote in message om... Hi there! I'm a Dad who is getting ready to visit a cottage with his daughter and other relatives. Thinking about maybe trying to make some paper. And have some nice downloads from the web for this. Wondering if we could do this directly from grasses or wood. Maybe some old rotton poplar trees. Mash 'em up, boil 'em up and then you can do the paper thing. YOUR QUESTION (Mr./Ms. Phelps!): To make paper you need to get the lignin glue out of the fibers. Apparently either a strong acid or a strong base will do this. Typically, in a hobby type situation, you would use lye. Is it possible to use something a little less dangerous. I mean, having to wear gloves and goggles doesn't sound like much fun. Would lemon juice or vinegar or baking soda work (well, not at the same time)? Look forward to any thoughts! John-In-Toronto |
#5
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wrote Is it possible to use something a little less dangerous. I mean, having to wear gloves and goggles doesn't sound like much fun. John, I would have thought that wearing gloves and goggles would add greatly to the kids' fun, convincing them that they were doing something really industrial grade, and not some silly play-skool set-up game. -dlj. |
#6
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Pat Kight wrote:
A better choice for kids might be making paper from ... paper! Gather up junk mail and other recyclable paper (not the glossy magazine stuff, which is coated with clay), an old blender you won't want to use for food again, a piece of window screen in a wooden frame and a large, flat tub (Rubbermaid makes some flat storage boxes that work great for this. Tear the paper into small pieces (a good job for kids!) and whir it up in the blender with a couple of cups of water till it turns to a grey-ish pulp. If you want to color it, add torn pieces of common colored construction paper. Pat, Any child too dopey to see through this fraud deserves, well, deserves to be subjected to such a fraud. -dlj. |
#7
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Pat,
Thanks for your quick reply! Actually, I've done a bit of research and was aware of the whole "recovery of pre-processed fibres" thing. And my daughter in fact has done that at school and enjoyed it. However, I was wondering about doing it for real -- how fibres can be obtained from real wood. My question I guess is really about chemistry and about how strong baking soda is, or alternatively on the other side of the ph spectrum, lemon juice. Or perhaps there are other recipes? Any more ideas about this will be much appreciated! Thanks, John Paper making from wood is, as you note, a messy process that requires strong chemicals. Lemon juice and vinegar probably won't do the trick. It also requires high temperatures, and that alone poses some risks. A better choice for kids might be making paper from ... paper! Gather up junk mail and other recyclable paper (not the glossy magazine stuff, which is coated with clay), an old blender you won't want to use for food again, a piece of window screen in a wooden frame and a large, flat tub (Rubbermaid makes some flat storage boxes that work great for this. Tear the paper into small pieces (a good job for kids!) and whir it up in the blender with a couple of cups of water till it turns to a grey-ish pulp. If you want to color it, add torn pieces of common colored construction paper. Fill the tub half-full of water and stir in the pulp mixture. Keep stirring while you slip the screen under the water and pulp and bring it straight up to catch a screenful of pulp. Let it drain for a while, then turn it out onto a dish towel or some other absorbent surface; continue drying in the sun and - voila! Instant paper (although the first few attempts will probably be more like cardboard in texture). You can add leaves, grasses, flower petals, seeds and other things into the pulp, or press it into the surface of the wet paper, to make "nature paper." This is a great outdoor activity and one kids really seem to like. My description is sketchy, but you can find more detailed ones by googling for "handmade paper" and "instructions". Have fun! |
#8
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#9
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JMorris wrote:
Pat, Thanks for your quick reply! John, You don't seem to have replied to my note. I hope you are quite clear that I think Pat is your children's enemy. -dlj. |
#10
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