A florist let me scavenge their trimmings yesterday. After two hours of separating everything by colour, I set the red, green, orange and yellow things to simmer for dye. That left me with all these white flowers, so I decided to soak them for paper making.
Making your own paper is simple:
- Soak in softened water (add baking soda) because the final product should be PH neutral. Acidic/basic paper will break down faster and alter/bleach anything put on them. Organics are naturally acidic, so I add baking soda and do a PH test before dipping my screens.
Optional: Cut up and mix in any uncoated paper waste you have laying around.
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Blend, remove/strain out any large bits that won't blend. I use an immesion blender.
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Make screens out of old, thin cloth and wooden frames. Polyester/silk/satin work best, anything that lets water pass through that the paper won't stick to.
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Pour the paper soup into a large, square container — big enough to fit the screens. Start lifting sheets out of the soup on the screens, let drain about a minute before flipping onto a flat towel. Alternatively, let the sheets dry on the screens.
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The best sheets are made by sandwiching between screens and hanging to dry. Whatever your method, uneven drying will crinkle the paper — but you can always iron it out later on between sheets of parchment or silicone.
The florist told me to come back again on February 13th for another big haul.
