How Paper is Made

From Plant to Pulp:

Paper pulp can be created out of anything that contains cellulose (the main component of the cell walls of plants). All plants contain cellulose, so virtually all plant matter can be used to make pulp.

In order to make the pulp, this plant matter must be broken down. Traditionally, the fibres were broken down or beaten by hand with wooden mallets or stampers. These days, mechanical beaters are most often used.

The Hollander Beater was invented in Holland in the late 17th century. It was a great step forward and provided a much more efficient means of creating pulp. The Hollander Beater is capable of beating the plant material into individual fibres, each having a fairly large surface area. This is important because it helps make the final paper stronger.

The basic design of the Hollander Beater remains essentially the same today.

After the material has been beaten into a pulpy mass, it is boiled in a mixture of water and lye (or slaked lime). The pulp is then washed several times to separate the non-fibrous debris from the useful fibres, and then it is reduced to a finer state by further beating. Once the pulp reaches the desired consistency, it is combined with more water and poured into a vat, ready to become paper.

More on how paper is made

• From Plant to Pulp:
• Types of Pulps
• Forming a Sheet of Paper
• Additives in Paper
  
  
• Back to Papermaking menu