Reciclado De Papel

Materials:
- Wooden frame
- Sieve with holes of about 1 mm (available in a hardware store)
- Formica sheets
- Rectangular bowl/container large enough to fit the frame
- Mortar withpestle
- Jug
- Hairdryer
- Bond Paper
- Flat sponge
- Water

Making and Recycling Paper at Home

Procedure:

- Soak some of the newspaper in water (it’s better if you let it to set for aday or two);
- Squeeze out the excess water;
- With the mortar and pestle, crush a little bit of paper at a time until you get a homogeneous paste, consisting of fibers isolated from eachother;

- Repeat this until you have enough paste;
- Fill the bowl halfway with water;
- Put the paper paste in the bowl and stir it to separate the fibers;
- Remove any resulting clumps (adense suspension of fibers must remain in the water);
- Immerse the frame in the watery suspension in the bowl (the sieve should be facing the bottom of the bowl);
- Slowly remove the frame fromthe suspension keeping it steadily horizontal; eventually move the frame to even out the layer of fibers;
- Wait for the water to drain;
- Place the smooth side of a sheet of Formica on top ofthe sheet of paper still soaked with water;
- Press on the Formica a little to drain the water, taking care not to deform the sieve;
- With a sponge, collect water from underneath and squeezeit away every so often;
- Carefully remove the sheet of Formica so that the sheet of paper remains attached to it;

- Let the sheet of paper dry. To do this more quickly, you can dry it witha hairdryer.

- The paper you make using this procedure will be bright on one side and opaque on the other. The bright side is more suitable for writing. This paper is highly permeable byink, but it is possible to write on it using a ballpoint pen. If you want to reduce the absorbency of the paper you’ve made, soak it in a solution of water and gelatin and then let it dry again.