Monday, February 03, 2014

Making paper from recycled jeans

This is the beginning of my third semester in grad school at Memphis College of Art.  I am continuing with paper making and wondering why I waited so long to try it.  MCA has an exceptional area for paper making, thanks to retired Professor Dolph Smith. His daughter-in-law, Colleen, is now teaching the class, and this week we worked on making paper from recycled fabrics. I used old jeans, and here is what the process of breaking down the fabric looks like:

 Mixing and breaking down the fabric in the beater:


The broken down fabric after only 10 minutes:



Foam building up from detergent residue in washed clothes:




The pulp after about 30 minutes:


The paper turned out beautifully! Pics to follow when it's not so cloudy outside!

Thanks for looking!

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