How To…# 1: How to make recycled paper at home?

Dear Students,

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Presenting our new series – ‘How To…’ where you decide what we help you build at home next!  So go ahead and ask us a question that starts with ‘How to…’. It can be anything that you want to try and build at home – a laptop stand perhaps? Or a stationary organiser? Ask us and your request could feature on The Learning Tree Blog along with a Do It Yourself (DIY) video. We already have thousands of questions pouring in so hurry, send in your entries now!

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For our very first edition, we are answering a question asked by a class 8 student, Mahek Bhagat from Jammu. She wants to know,

How to make paper from used paper?

Home-made paper

Do you have some notebooks that are all used up? Are you planning to sell them off to the scrapyard? Wait! You’re gonna need it for this DIY – making new paper from old used paper aka the recycled paper DIY. Not only does this activity result in an extremely useful end-product but it also is colourful and lots of fun!! If you’re wondering what you’ll do with the new paper you make at the end of this DIY, here are a few suggestions:

1. You can make a greeting card out of the paper you’ll make
2. You can make multiple papers and turn them into a diary 
3. You can paint on this paper and frame it
4. You can gift them to your artistic friends!

And with that, let’s kick start our DIY right away:

You’ll need

1. Used sheets of paper
2. Mixer jar and mixer
3. A pair of Scissors 
4. A bottle of water
5. A Sieve
6. 2-3 pieces of cotton cloth (clean and dry)
7. Colour of your choice (optional)

Steps

1. Take some sheets of used paper. Approximately 3-4 pages of  A4 size.
2. Shred them into small pieces, try to cut as small pieces as possible.
3. Put the shredded paper in a mixer jar, add water such that the shredded pieces are all soaked in it. (Expert tip – If you’ve chosen a thick paper to do this DIY, soak the shredded paper in water ( for 3-4 hours) for sometime after this step)
4. Now grind the paper and water in the mixie, until it turns into a smooth pulp.
5. Pour the pulp into a sieve. Wait until the water drains out of it. Meanwhile, spread the pulp evenly on the sieve. (Expert tip: If you want to give your paper a certain colour, add the colour to the pulp at this stage. You can use watercolours or natural dyes like turmeric, beetroot etc for colouring the paper)
6. Soak the remaining water from the pulp using a dry cotton cloth. You may need two-three sets of cotton cloth to do the same. (Expert tip: Don’t use any cloth that has embroidery design patterns on it, as it will disrupt the texture of your paper. Unless you want that texture on your paper!)
7. Soaked and set, your pulp is now ready to be taken out of the sieve. Invert your sieve and gently tap it around, to let the pulp fall out without breaking.
8. Once out, leave the pulp in a dry place for 24 hours. This will enable the remaining moisture in it to evaporate.
9. Your paper is now ready for use!

How paper is made at the Industrial level

In essence, paper is made from fibre. It can be obtained through a variety of materials such as wood pulp, rice or cotton. Although, most of the paper we use is made from trees and recycled paper. Usually, papermaking fibres can be recycled five to seven times before they become too short to be recycled. So typically the paper you use for writing, may contain new fibres as well as fibres that have already been recycled once or more. 

At the industrial level, during the paper recycling process, ink is removed from paper in a process called de-inking. Then just like our DIY, recovered paper is chopped up and mixed with water to make a pulp out of it. The pulp is put through a series of washing processes that use water and soap-like chemicals called surfactants — like Calcium carbonate (CaCO3) — to remove the ink, brighten the paper as well as strengthen it. The pulp is then put into a big machine with a giant roller that uses steam to press and dry out the pulp, meanwhile allowing the excess water to drip out from the side.

And that’s how paper is recycled at an industrial level. Recycling paper at home not only makes for a fun activity but also is greatly beneficial for the environment. Even in manufacturing, it is one of the few eco-friendly industries. It uses a bare minimum of chemicals like CaCO3 amongst others. By the way did you know calcium carbonate has many other uses, in fact you have used it too! Do you know how? Tell us in the comment section below!

We’ll be back next month with another one of your ‘How to…’ questions, until then keep making new stuff and keep learning!

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