FREE ESSAY ON PAPER AND PAPERMAKING

PAPER AND PAPERMAKING

Paper and Papermaking
Raw materials for paper
Basic process of papermaking
Birth of papermaking
Papermaking in Europe
The main material for paper in the European countries was cotton and linen fiber from
rags. It was washed, bleached, and soaked in an alkali solution before pulping. The basic
process for papermaking was dipping a mold of wire into a vat of stock and lifting it
out. Once that was finished it was removed and placed on wooden cloth for pressing.
Sometimes one stack 2 feet high was reduced to 6 or 8 inches. After drying the paper was
sized and prepared for printing. It is theorized that paper was first created in 100 BC,
but it is credited to a Chinese man by the name of Ts'ai Lun. Early paper was made with
hemp waste in water and beaten with a wooden mallet. After decades of evolution the
product called paper finally made its way to Europe. Paper was not readily accepted in
Europe, in 1221 the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II declared everything written on paper
to be invalid. Things soon would change when the printing press was invented.