Paper is an aqueous deposit of any
vegetable fibre in sheet form!

What does that mean?

If you tear a piece of paper you will see a number of minute ‘whiskers’ sticking out from the line of the tear. These are the fibres, they are very small in size (not much more than a millimetre in length) and there are millions of them in any piece of paper.

Paper is made from cellulose – trees being the main source of cellulose fibre (or woodpulp). Besides woodpulp, paper can be made from other materials such as cotton, flax, esparto, straw, hemp, manilla and jute.

See below for images of the different fibre structures.

what is paper? Paper can be made from Pulp

 

Pulp

what is paper? Paper can be made from Cotton

 

Cotton

what is paper? Paper can be made from Flax

 

Flax

what is paper? Paper can be made from Esparto

 

Esparto

what is paper? Paper can be made from Straw

 

Straw

what is paper? Paper can be made from Hemp

 

Hemp

what is paper? Paper can be made from Jute

 

Jute

How is paper made?

Timber used for papermaking comes from well managed forests where more trees are planted than harvested to ensure sustainable growth.

Papermakers usually use only the parts of the tree that other commercial industries don’t want – such as saw mill waste and forest thinnings.
Some of the pulp properties depend upon the process used to separate the fibres from the timber. The main processes are called mechanical and chemical.

Learn How paper made  
what is paper?, how is paper made?

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