Chapter 418: Leather Paper

Zhao Yeqing wanted to use the mulberry bark to make household paper. The fiber pulp did not need to be broken up in a trough like the previous bamboo fiber. Instead, the papermaking trough should be immersed in water, and then a bunch of fibers should be placed in the trough and stirred together with the water.

This method does not require constantly scooping out wood fibers from the water as before, which is difficult to completely scoop out and difficult to lay flat.

Both methods have their pros and cons. The bamboo paper made from previous bamboo materials is used for writing, and the paper is preferably thinner. Although that method is more difficult, the fibers scooped out are relatively fine, and the rose-like fibers are more easily scooped up by the papermaking trough, so the paper made will be thinner.

The method of making paper from mulberry bark is simple, but the paper will be soft and thick, not very convenient for writing. However, it is just right for daily use.

Just be careful not to let the thick fibers get mixed in and prick your skin.

The thicker fibers visible to the naked eye were picked out by hand, and the hands were gently patted on the water surface to make the fibers more uniform. Mu Xi's movements were particularly gentle, and his palms kept making a "piapia" sound on the water surface, using the vibration of the water flow to move the fibers.

This papermaking trough is also very time-consuming to make. Only two were made in total. The one used to make bamboo paper is still in the drying room. Now that this one is used to scoop out the mulberry bark, there are no empty papermaking troughs left.

Two pieces of paper were placed inside and baked at the same time. Zhao Yeqing poked the bamboo paper lightly and found that it was almost dry, so he took down the paper-making trough.

The bamboo part on the papermaking trough used to scoop out paper can be removed. Just now, it was not taken down and was directly placed on the bamboo sheet to dry. When Zhao Yeqing took it down to get the paper, he found that it was stuck a little too tightly and could not be taken off.

She sounded a little annoyed: "I shouldn't have been lazy just now. This bamboo paper is a bit thin. If I don't dry it on a flat surface, it will probably break if I take it down now."

Mu Xi took a knife with the thinnest blade and gave it to her. He lifted up the paper along the edge little by little. There were a few places that were particularly thin and he accidentally punctured them. Zhao Yeqing took a breath and quickly changed direction to make the movements as light as possible before continuing.

This piece of paper is nearly one meter long and about half a meter wide. There are several damages in the middle the size of a little fingernail, but the overall impact is not significant.

As she peeled off a piece of paper, Zhao Yeqing's forehead was actually covered with sweat. She finally peeled it off completely. She breathed a sigh of relief and carefully held up the paper to the light and looked at it: "Not bad, better than I thought."

Although it is called bamboo paper, it is actually much rougher than the smooth bamboo paper seen on the market, and has no glossiness. It can only be regarded as a kind of straw paper. The paper peeling process is not very smooth because the paper's toughness is not very good.

After all, there was no adhesive and no polishing, and the materials were not complete. Zhao Yeqing was already very satisfied with the result. Such a large piece of paper could be divided into small pieces and bound into a small notebook.

After the papermaking was completed, the mulberry bark was almost dried. Mu Xi took down the papermaking trough and, imitating Zhao Yeqing, removed the bamboo pieces and peeled off the mulberry bark paper little by little.

This process was much smoother than with bamboo paper, because the paper was thicker and softer, and there was no damage when it was peeled off. Zhao Yeqing raised his hand to touch the paper, and his eyes lit up as soon as he touched it, full of surprise:

"This is great, soft and thick enough! If nothing else, it's definitely enough for going to the toilet."