Up until the popularity of the Internet rose to prominence, the print was the medium used to transfer information. Still, Paper plays a big part in our day to day life. From books, documents, newspapers, wrappers, bags and whatnots.
We all know paper is made from wood. But do we actually know the process that converts wood into paper? Let's learn how is paper made.
Paper is basically cellulose fibres pressed together. It differs from clothes as it skips the weaving stage. Paper pulp is mostly extracted from fast-growing evergreen conifers. Bamboo, jute, hemp and cotton can be used too. Papers that we use in magazines with a smooth appearance have china clay added to it.
Take a plant, thrash it to release the fibres and add water in it to get a suspension that we call pulp. The next step is to spread the pulp out on a mesh. The fibres knit and bond together. Remove the water by squeezing, dry the pulp and viola! Your paper is ready.
Methods to make paper
This was the basic science behind paper-making. We make paper from two methods that follow these basic principles i.e. Handmade and machine-made.
Paper made by hand doesn't differ much from what we discussed above. It is mainly used to make some of the expensive quality of papers. Though most of the mass-produced papers are machine-made.
Machines make the pulp either mechanically or chemically. The mechanical method is called the Groundwood Process, the reason being it was made using huge stones to crush the wood. But stones are out of fashion now and machines do all the work to make the pulp.
Kraft Process is the chemical process that boils plant materials in strong alkali to produce fibres. Other chemicals to increase the properties of the paper is added in this step.
Once the pulp is made, it is added to a roller machine to turn it into paper. It is called a Fourdrinier machine. It is almost similar to the handmade process but differs as it is mechanical. The biggest machines can make paper at 60km/h!
We have come a long way from the ancient Egyptians who used Papyrus or other civilisations who used leaves, animal skins among other things to store information. Digital technology is changing the way we consume information. But paper is not going anywhere, at least for now.