The Recycle for Cornwall campaign has been developed to raise public awareness of recycling and to provide consumers with a compelling reason to recycle.
Read through these instructions carefully before starting.
To make your own recycled paper you will need: • An old picture frame or similar, about 30cm x 20cm for a mould • Some old nylon net curtain or similar, large enough to pin over the frame • A shallow bowl big enough to hold the mould • Reusable cloths e.g. j cloths larger than the mould • A food mixer • Some waste paper • A bucket • Drawing pins • Two pieces of board, larger than the frame. You could use hardboard or plastic chopping boards for this • Old newspaper • Old clothes - it is very messy!
How to make it
1. Fix the net tightly to the frame with drawing pins.
2. Tear up the waste paper into small pieces, about 3 -5cm square, and soak in water in the bucket for a few hours ( overnight is ideal) until soggy.
3. Take some of the soaked paper and put it in your food mixer (you will need adult supervision for this) top up the paper with about a litre of water and whiz it until you have a smooth pulp. It should end up cloudy, without lumps, and a little thicker than milk. More water can be added if needed.
4. Cover a work surface or table with plenty of newspaper for protection to set up your press. Place one of the boards down and lay one of the pieces of cloth on top.
5. Stir the pulp to keep it even and pour some of it into the shallow bowl. Slide the mould into the pulp and gently move it around to get a thin even layer.
6. Lift out the mould and allow it to drain over the dish for a moment.
7. Slowly turn over the mould so the layer of paper is downwards and place it centrally onto the cloth (step 4). Wipe the net to remove as much water as possible.
8. Remove the mould carefully, leaving the paper sheet on the cloth. Cover this with another piece of cloth.
9. Repeat stages 5-8, building up alternative layers of paper and cloth until you have used up the pieces of cloth, or the pulp. Finish with a layer of cloth.
10. Place the other piece of board on the last piece of cloth and weigh it down. Leave for about 1 hour.
11. Remove the weights and the top board. Carefully peel off each layer of cloth together with the paper sheet and spread it out on dry newspaper with the paper sheet side facing up, in a dry warm place.
12. After a few hours, turn over and peel off the cloth. Leave the paper sheets to dry thoroughly. You might like to iron the sheets to flatten them.
The type of paper you make will depend on the raw material you start with. Newspaper works well but the paper will be grey. White printer paper will make whiter sheets and old leaflets with black ink work well.
You can experiment with dyeing the paper by adding food colouring or water based paint or natural dyes from plants. (This is done at stage 3).
Once you have mastered the basic method - have fun experimenting!
Patterns can be added by adding tea leaves, dried herbs petals or other coloured paper scraps (add these at stage 5)
