Papermaking: the process

Paper as we know it today actually comes from China. In the year 105 Han Emperor Ho-Ti's chief eunuch, T'sai Lun, experimented with materials in a search to replace silk as a writing material. He refined a process of macerating mulberry and bamboo plants until each fiber was separated completely. The individual fibers were mixed with water in a large vat. A screen was then dipped into the vat and lifted, catching the fibers on its surface. When dried, this thin layer of intertwined fiber became what today we call paper. This eunuch's creation was thin and smooth yet strong and flexible, and came to be known as T'sai Ko-Shi, meaning: "Distinguished T'sai's Paper." It would soon be used to spread Daoist and Confucian spiritual texts and make its way to Japan, Tibet, and Korea.

The process of making paper has remained essentially the same, and is one in which a dilute suspension of fibers in water is drained through a screen, so that a mat of randomly interwoven fibers is laid down. Water is removed from this mat of fibers by pressing and drying to make paper. Today most paper is made from wood pulp, but many other fiber sources such as cotton (old clothes) and textiles can be used. Such rags were sorted, cut-up, washed and transferred to an oak tub filled with water.

For fuller detail on what the papermills of Penicuik used to make paper, an appreciation of the Fourdrinier machine is required.