how to make paper pulp in your kitchen

I save all the scraps when I crop my drawings so I can re-use them as fresh paper. There are 2 reasons for this: fine art paper is expensive (@3$ to 45$+ a sheet) so throwing it away makes me sad, and because making paper is awesome! This batch of paper took several months of saving scraps. That pile underneath is only my most recent edition. So here's the how-to:


Save your scraps, and tear them up

Tear them into even smaller squares.

Place them in a big bucket (or gumbo pot in my case... the family would not approve) and cover the paper with water. Make sure to saturate the paper.
Let this concoction soak for a few days (at least 24 hours) and stir it occasionally. Mine sat for 3 days. The squares should fall apart with little effort.

Use a nifty screen bag (you can find them at paint stores) to strain out the water. At this stage it is ok to use your sink, but later either strain it twice or dump the water elsewhere because the paper fibers will clog your drain. 

Set up plastic on the floor as this part is messy. I have a household blender dedicated to blending pulp labeled "paper". Please do not use the same blender that you make smoothies with to make paper (this is not the kind of fiber you want in your diet)! 
Fill the blender with about one cup of soaked paper squares, and 2-3 cups of water as needed. Pulse at first, then blend to a pulp. Don't blend for long as this will shorten the fibers and weaken the potential strength of the paper. 
Blend only until the fibers easily float around in a glass of water. Should look like this:

Strain the water out (to prevent an awkward call to your landlord, don't dump this water down your sink unless you strain it 2 times). Leave your pulp in the squishy stage because the pulp needs to stay wet until we make the paper. Probably you should have more water in your bag than I did.

Put it in a baggie, or another air/water-tight storage container. Keep it in your refrigerator for short term, or the freezer for longer term storage. 

Will show you how to turn it into paper soon!