Cotton paper

As rag paper refers to a group of papers that were prepared from waste textiles or textile fiber raw materials and are. In library science parlance, the term is used for handmade papers before the invention of wood pulp paper in the middle of the 19th century. In modern times linguistic contexts, the paper industry rag paper called quality papers from gently disrupted fibrous materials suitable crops. In everyday parlance, the term of this handmade paper has become customary, but seeks only to an actual or perceived preparation method, without taking into account the fiber composition mandatory.

Historical rag paper

Since the beginning of European paper production in the 14th century by Italian paper mills have established themselves as a raw material base of the strife paper produced always on hand creation, the worn garments and other textile items no longer needed. The spread of East Asia and the Middle East method of papermaking was largely based on the direct use of this plant -derived raw materials.

A significant part of the raw materials for the early European paper production consisted of hemp fiber, flax fiber (linen) and nettle cloth, which are among the most durable natural fibers cultured in Europe fiber plants. The paper mills bought the required rag from the rag-pickers working for them. This situation in the ongoing over several centuries papermaking practice was the cause of tear-resistant and very resistant to aging papers Hader papers.

To prepare for making paper we crushed the struggle with the hand, and gave it to a stamp mill. This showed a washed and more or less homogeneous pulp that could be used for scooping. In the 17th century developed into Dutch paper mills some procedural improvements. The manufacturing process was now part of the Dutch, a wasserradgetriebener apparatus for mechanical pulping of waste textiles. This apparatus could generate in a quarter of the time required the necessary fiber mass, as it were able to the old stomping. Because this method for the production of paper pulp took place under simple craft conditions, the paper raw material obtained therefrom is not uniform. Typical small thickenings in such old rag papers that one sometimes referred to as stumps.

Modern rag paper

The rag papers since the industrial paper production are mostly white and smooth paper with a basis weight of 70-135 grams. Your raw material basis are mostly cotton fibers and only to a lesser extent flax, ramie or jute. Often such strife papers are blended with wood pulp, so that a strife proportion of at least 50 percent is available. In other cases, it is called rag -containing papers.

As the main technical features of this rag papers they show in comparison with conventional printing and writing papers particularly high values ​​of the double fold and the breaking length.

Typical modern uses are postage stamps, banknotes, stocks, maps and other documents purposes. In the production of banknotes or other special state needs an elaborate quality control during the manufacturing process applied and the quantity produced strictly controlled and documented. Modern Hader papers, in contrast to their historical models no longer necessarily a watermark. For the uninitiated, they are indistinguishable from good printer or letterpress printing papers.