How to Make Paper Pulp: 14 Steps (with Pictures) - wikiHow (2024)

FAQs

What are the 6 steps of making paper? ›

Paper making involves 5 steps: Chipping, Making of wood pulp, Spreading the pulp, Pressing-Drying-Rolling and Cutting Sheets.

To make paper pulp, tear the paper into small pieces and soak the pieces in water overnight. Next, break the pieces down with your hands until the pulp reaches the consistency of a thick soup. Then, put the pulp in a blender and pulse it on a high speed for 15-30 seconds until the consistency is as smooth as possible.

Soak the cardboard pieces in a large container filled with water for several hours or overnight. After the cardboard has soaked, use a blender or food processor to turn the cardboard into a pulp. Pour the pulp into the container and fill it with water until the pulp is completely submerged.

The papermaking process begins with sending logs (1) through a barker (2), and grinding them into chips (3). The chips move through a screen (4) and are mixed with chemicals before being fed by a conveyor (5) into a digester (6). Here the fibers are cooked to soften the lignin adhesive that binds the fibers together.

Starting with the production of the most important raw material, wood. The pulping process converts this wood into the most appropriate type of pulp. The paper machine then converts the pulp into a thin base paper, which, at the end of the production process, is coated to give it a superb flat surface and bright shade.

To make pulp, the cellulose fibres of wood are mechanically or chemically separated. To make chemically separated pulp, wood chips are cooked at high temperatures in a mixture of water, sodium hydroxide (NaOH), and sodium sulfide (Na2S), a process that breaks it down to a pulp.

How do I make my own paper? ›

You just need is a blender, scrap paper, a piece of felt or a towel, and water. Start by blending the scrap paper until it turns into a pulp. Then, spread the pulp over the felt with a spoon and your hands. Once the paper is dry, you can add color, designs, or other decorations.

Wood chips first are partially softened in a digester with chemicals, steam , and heat. Once chips are softened, mechanical methods complete the pulping process. The pulp is washed after digestion to remove cooking liquor chemicals and organic compounds dissolved from the wood chips.

Chemical pulp

The kraft process is the dominant chemical pulping method, with the sulfite process second. Historically soda pulping was the first successful chemical pulping method.

Raw materials like wood pulp, bamboo, salai and sabai grass, as well as molasses and bagasse, are essentially for paper production. Due to this, paper making has become quite a diverse and specialized industry in the country.

Step 3: Blend it

Blend it until there are no more big paper pieces. You might have to add a bit more water if the pulp is getting too thick. If you don't have a blender or don't want to use one you can use your hands, a grinder or even a fork to grind everything into a pulp.