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.

Prices per kg (2.2 lbs.)	1/2 kg	per kg
Cotton Linters - first cut - processed cotton fibres compressed into sheets. Excellent for sheet forming.
	$8.75	$14.95
Unbleached Abaca Pulp - light, beige pulp from a plant related to the banana plant. Strong, silky sheets.
	$14.95	$27.95
Bleached Abaca Pulp - light, cream-coloured sheets of processed bleached abaca fibres. Very strong.
	$14.95	$27.95

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.

Flax Fibre - thin hair-like, sun bleached Canadian flax fibres, 1" length ... $21.95 /kg
Minced Flax - Canadian flax/shive chopped so fine, just mix in a blender and add to other pulps. No cooking necessary
	$5.95 (100 grams)	$8.95 (1/4 kg)	$14.95 (1/2 kg)	$24.95 ( 1 kg)