Daffodil Leaf Paper

1. Collect dead daffodil leaves.
2. Cut in to 1 inch lengths.
3. Ret with potash (10 days)
4. Mash using a metal pole.
5. Mash in a pestle and mortar.
6. Put the pulp in a paper bath and pull a sheet using the deckle and mould.

Worked quite well but bowed!

daffodil leaf paper

Ragwort Seed Paper

1. Collect ragwort flower heads.
2. Remove the seeds from the head of the plant.
3. Place the seeds in a paper bath and pull a sheet using a deckle and mould.

This paper is extremely weak and fell apart instantly.

Ragwort Seed Paper

Oak - Inner Bark Paper

1. Find slices of an old oak tree.
2. Allow them to dry out sufficiently.
3. Crack the outer bark away.
4. Scrape the inner bark away and ret with potash (5days)
5. Mash in pestle and mortar.
6. Place the pulp in a paper bath and pull a sheet using a deckle and mould.

Very weak paper, more like chip board if it was sized with gelatin?

Oak inner bark Paper

Bulrush leaf Paper

1. Collect Bulrush leaves
2. Dry the leaves (2 days)
3. Ret the leaves with potash (10days)
4. Wash the fibres.
5. Mash the fibres in a pestle and mortar.
6. Place the pulp in a paper bath and pull a sheet of using a deckle and mould.

Successfully made paper

bulrush paper

Reed Paper

1. Collect reeds
2. Dry the reeds (2 days)
3. Ret the leaves with potash (7days)
4. Using a strong blunt instrument scrap the organic matter away from the reeds leaving just the fibres.
5. Boil the fibres in water (2 hours)
6. Mash the fibres in a pestle and mortar.
7. Boil the mashed fibre again (2 hours)
8. Mash the fibres in a pestle and mortar.
9. Place the pulp in a paper bath and pull a sheet of using a deckle and mould.

You don’t get much pulp and it takes ages to get any at all.

Not very strong paper!

Successfully made paper!

reed paper

Willow Paper - Inner Bark

1. Collect twigs from a local willow tree. (preferably ones that have already fallen from the tree)
2. Place these twigs in a pan of boiling water.
3. Boil the twigs for 2 hours.
4. After 2 hours remove the wood from the water.
5. Using an implement with a strong edge (maybe a piece of steel) grind the outer bark from the twig leaving the inner bark and the wood.
6. Using a Stanley knife remove the inner bark from the wood. (you are now left with the inner bark separated from the outer bark and the wood)
7. Cut this inner bark in to 1 inch strips.
8. Place these 1 inch strips of willow inner bark in a pan of boiling water.
9. Boil for a further 2 hours.
10. Remove the boiled inner bark and grind in a pestle and mortar.
11. Place this ground inner bark in a pan of boiling water.
12. Boil for an hour.
13. Remove the boiled inner bark and grind in a pestle and mortar.
14. Place this pulp in a paper bath and pull the sheet using a deckle and mould.

Takes a long time, but successful!

Willow (inner bark) paper sheet

Autumn Leaf Paper

1. Collect dead leaves.
2. Boil these leaves.
3. Pile these leaves on top of one another to until a flat sheet of leaves is made.
4. Using a pestle and mortar beat the leaves together.
5. Allow these pounded leaves a day to dry. (they are really weak and just fall apart again, maybe a binder is needed to hold them together)

Didn’t work!