A Primer on Choosing and Preparing Paper for Paper Clay Find out what paper works best for paper clay! Plus, learn how to prepare paper for mixing with clay! Rosette Gault

Paper clay is any clay body to which paper pulp (processed cellulose fiber) has been added. It is a wonderful tool to use in the studio, especially if you are making sculpture. If you are interested in making homemade paper clay, you are probably curious as to what paper works best in the mix.

In today's post, one of the foremost authorities on paper clay, Rosette Gault, gives advice on what papers to use for paper clay and the basics of paper clay preparation. Plus she gives some health and safety tips for working with paper clay. - Jennifer Poellot Harnetty, editor

Selecting and Evaluating Paper for Paper Clay

Lower-grade paper, such as shredded paper from copying machines, works very well. Even yellow- or pink-colored papers do not adversely affect the mix. Fired results of lower-grade paper are relatively more dense and slightly heavier than with higher grade. Toilet paper (bathroom tissue) is also a good source.

Certain types of better stationery and/or brochures or leaflets printed on nonglossy paper are among the higher grade papers. Higher "rag" content means more delicate fibers.

Don't use newsprint, brown bags or cardboard if you want a clean, white result. There is too much sawdust-grade pulp in their compositions. Glossy brochures and catalogs take a longer time to break down into pulp so they should be avoided.

Use a consistent source for your paper. Once you've selected a paper, make a test batch of clay and test fire it to be sure that you like the clay color. Most inks, including those used in photocopiers, are carbon based and burn out during firing; but ink-containing mineral oxides will stain your clay. Testing also helps determine the best proportion of paper to clay for your purposes.

Wet clay particles are much smaller than paper fibers so they mold to the fibers as they dry. When the paper burns away during firing, a fine-grained lattice-like structure results.

Be aware that adding paper to your clay body may significantly change the maturation temperature, because small amounts of clay are routinely added to commercial papers to improve texture, and the clay in your pulp will tend to raise overall maturation temperature. Always test firing temperature before mixing a large batch!

Preparing Paper for Paper Clay

Turning paper into pulp is simple. For already shredded paper, use a large, watertight barrel. Fill it halfway with the dry, spaghetti-like shreds.

Pour in clear water, enough to fully saturate each piece of paper. Hot water seems to speed this. Soak as desired.

For papers/brochures that have not been shredded, fill the watertight barrel a third of the way with clean water, hot if possible. Tear the paper into 3-4-inch scraps. Drop each scrap into the water. The wet paper will start to disintegrate and expand. Some papers are so absorbent they grow like sponges to five or six times their original volume.

Once the paper scraps are thoroughly saturated, use a glaze-mixing blunger to homogenize. Be generous with the water in pulping and add water if the mixture is too thick; it should be very soupy so as not to overtax your mixer. Add a few drops of bleach to retard mildew and bacteria growth, especially if you don't plan to use the pulp within a day or two.

Mix the slurry until the printing is illegible and the pulp appears to be homogenous.To drain, pour the slurry over a large-mesh screen, and press the water out by hand. Strain the pulp gently. Squeeze out as much excess water as possible.

Store the mostly de-watered pulp in an airtight plastic bag until you are ready to mix it into clay slip. However, do not let this wet pulp sit for more than two weeks or it will smell worse than a garbage dump.

To store the pulp so it won't rot, you can freeze it in convenient packages. A better way, however, is to allow unused pulp to dry out, then reconstitute what you need in water.

Health and Safety with Paper Clay

• If you have any skin sensitivities or skin allergies, wear rubber gloves when handling paper clay.

• If you batch any dry powder materials, be sure to wear an approved respirator.

• When blunging the clay, wear goggles.

• Due to the wide variety of potential ingredients found in clays, papers and waters in various regions of the world that are beyond the control of the authors and the publishers, use caution and care in trying these methods.

Go to the archive to learn how to make paper clay! 

**First published in 2008