Have you ever wondered how is commercial printing paper made?
It is made in huge quantities and at heavy weights and sizes. The key ingredient of any paper is the tree pulp. However, with the awareness of switching over to environmentally sustainable printing, new ingredients like straw, cotton, flax, bamboo, linen rags etc are used.
Any ingredient is treated through several processes to make specific kinds of paper.
Two main processes for making pulp
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Mechanical pulping-
This is achieved by grinding down the fibers either by themselves or by using steam. Now a days, chemical bleaches are being used to grind down the fibers. The end result is sheet of paper with short, uneven fibers retaining lignin from the tree. It is yellow or grey in colour. This type of paper is thick but light in weight due to the non dense fibers.
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Chemical pulping-
This is achieved by mixing the fibers with chemical brighteners and mineral fillers, which bind the fibers together to give a longer and more uniform look. Paper produced through this method is called wood free paper. The end result is smoother, whiter and denser paper.
Next stop: Shaking
The pulp mixture is diluted with water and fed into wire mesh, where the water is removed and the fibers are shaken together. This process is repeated until the fibers dry.
Colour it pretty
For beautifully coloured papers, dyes are added at this point.
Roll Out
When the paper reaches the desired thickness and moisture content, the surface is further enhanced by calendaring and coating. At this point, it is decided if the paper will be gloss, matt, semi-matt, silk etc. Once, the paper has been sufficiently dried, it is rolled out and cut into different shapes and sizes.
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