PULPS AND FIBRES

Pulps is processed fibre broken down into a slurry that is used to make papers. Cotton, sisal, hemp, rag and abaca pulps come in dried sheet form and can easily be prepared in a blender. Pulp made from fabric, such as blue/black jean cotton, is called rag pulp and is also blender friendly. Raw fibres need to be cooked in a soda ash solution, rinsed, and then prepared in a beater or by hand. Thai kozo and Phillipine Gampi are dried bast fibres used for Asian papermaking. Hemp is an extremely strong raw fibre and needs to be beaten in a Hollander beater. From a kilogram (2.2 lb) of pulp you can expect to make between 100 to 160 sheets of paper, depending on the type of pulp used and paper thickness.

Pulps

Prices per kg (2.2 lbs.)	1/2 kg	1-5 kg	6-15 kg	16-30 kg	+31 kg+
Cotton Linters - first cut - processed cotton fibres compressed into sheets. Excellent for sheet forming.
	$5.25	$8.95	$8.55	$8.05	$7.75
Cotton Linters - second cut - cotton fibre pulp for pulp casting and embossing. Combine with white rag pulp for sheet forming.
	$5.25	$8.95	$8.55	$8.05	$7.75
Cotton Rag Pulp - White, Blue, Black or Red - pulp sheets from cotton fabric processed in a Hollander beater. Moss green, salmon, antique beige and light rose colors are also available at this time. Excellent sheet forming.
	$5.95	$11.75	$11.25	$10.90	$10.70
Unbleached Abaca Pulp - light, beige pulp from a plant related to the banana plant. Strong, silky sheets.
	$9.95	$19.50	$18.70	$18.05	$17.70
Bleached Abaca Pulp - light, cream-coloured sheets of processed bleached abaca fibres. Very strong.
	$10.95	$21.00	$20.15	$19.35	$18.50
Sisal Pulp - light, straw coloured pulp from sisal fibres. Great by itself or mixed with other pulps.
	$7.95	$14.95	$13.95	$13.65	$12.95

FIBRES from just about any plant can be used for papermaking. Bast, strong plant fibres underneath the bark of a plant, need to be cooked before being pulverized into a pulp. By cooking in soda ash you open up fibres and remove sugar and other things that cause oxidation in paper. Soda ash is rinsed out and fibres are ready to be to further broken down into a pulp. Kozo and Gampi, known as Asian bark fibres, are traditionally used for oriental style papers. General summary of preparation included.

	1-5 kg	6-15 kg	16-30 kg
Philipine Gampi - bast fibres (wikstroemia retusa). Translucent fibre makes silky, light beige papers. Needs to be cooked.
	$21.95	$20.75	$20.00
Thai Kozo - bast fibres of the mulberry tree, needs cooking. Makes strong, thin, light cream coloured sheets.
	$22.95	$21.95	$21.00
Rare Fibres - ginger plant and kenaf fibres are available ... $12.00 (1/2 kg)
Hemp Fibre - grey Canadian textile hemp fibre, 3" length, 99.8% pith free ... $6.95 kg
Flax Fibre - thin hair-like, sun bleached Canadian flax fibres, 1" length ... $10.95 kg
Blender Flax - Canadian flax chopped so fine, just mix in a blender and add to other pulps. No cooking necessary ... $4.25 (1/2 kg) $7.95 kg
Fibre Sample Set - includes 200 grams each of kozo, gampi, hemp, and flax, 120 grams soda ash and cooking instructions. Blender flax may be substituted for one fibre ... $19.95

Books offered by Lilian Bell or Maureen Richardson are excellent references for cooking raw fibres.