What Is Handmade Paper !

Paper made by hand using a mould (a frame covered with a flat, rigid screen or flexible screen). In both cases the mould is covered by a flat frame called a deckle, to contain the run-off of wet pulp, dipped into a vat of wet pulp, shaken to distribute the fibers evenly and drained of its excess water. The wet mat of fibers remaining in the newly formed sheet is then dried against blankets & may be hot pressed, cold pressed, or air dried.

Paper Making Process

One ton of Indian handmade paper, produced from cotton rag waste, saves about 270 Eucalyptus or at least 400 bamboo trees that would be required to make the same quantity of machine made paper. Unlike easily available machine made papers, Indian Handmade papers are made from ‘khadda’ i.e. unbleached hand spun rags left over from the garment industry. Except for the electric motors used for pulping, calendaring and peripheral activities, all production is manual. No harsh chemicals or dyes are used. Decorative effects are produced by inclusions such as petals, grass clippings and waste threads. Paper is dried under the sun. The water let out from the industries is benign. The input is cotton cut waste from garment industries. And the output goes to every advanced economy in the world.

Here is a brief description of how otherwise rags evolve into beautiful and unique papers.

SORTING: The cotton rags are sorted by hand to remove plastics, synthetic materials, buttons and other non textile material to ensure quality pulp without any contamination. It is also given a vigorous shake to remove the dust and dirt.

CUTTING: The collected rags are then cut into small pieces by electrical shredders or choppers. Some manufacturers still use traditional curved knives or sickles. ......... More