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📜 Paper, Ink & Toilet Paper

How to make the paper, ink and toilet paper a household goes through once the stores are gone: paper by hand from rags, plants and scrap paper; iron-gall and soot inks; pens, pencils and slates; keeping paper and books from mold; and what to use instead of toilet paper, tissues and paper towels, and where each may go. The two papermaking and ink books are in Homestead-Skills\Paper-Ink: Watt's The Art of Paper-Making (1890), whose chapter "Making Paper by Hand" covers the vat, mould and sizing, and the Bureau of Standards' Inks (Circular 426, 1940). The old recipe books are in Homestead-Skills\Household-Make-Do and the toilet books in Sanitation-Hygiene\Latrines-Toilets. Where no book covers a step, this guide says (rule of thumb).

The short version

🧺 What paper is, and fibers that work

Paper is "a composition of linen, cotton, or other vegetable fibre reduced to powder and then combined with size, which is a kind of glue" (Leland, p. 112). Beaten fiber spread thin on a screen felts into a sheet; the size (glue) lets it take ink.

Fiber How good Notes
Linen rags, flax waste, hemp, old rope The best: long, strong, flexible (Watt, p. 20) Already retted and boiled, so it needs "but little chemical treatment" (same page)
Cotton rags "Strong and flexible", a little spongy (p. 20) Worn-out sheets, shirts, flour sacks
Straw (wheat, oats, rye, barley) Short; "cannot of itself make a strong paper" (p. 20) Cut 1–2 in (p. 99); mix with rag pulp (rule of thumb)
Corn stalks and husks, reeds, bean stalks, hop vines, poplar, willow On Watt's list of paper materials (p. 26) Long cooking; try a small batch (rule of thumb)
Cattail, milkweed Ithaca Hours were printed on "locally made … cattail (marsh reed) paper" (FRB Cleveland, p. 2); milkweed used "to some extent" (Saunders, p. 256) Cut cattail only from clean water; learn waterhemlock first (Food from Scratch)
Waste paper The easiest (Watt, p. 104) See "Recycling" below
Wool No: mills sold woollen rags for reused wool ("shoddy") (p. 27) Synthetics won't pulp either (rule of thumb)

Rags: remove buttons, hooks, rubber and pins; open seams, hems and knots; cut 2- to 4-inch squares; keep dark rags apart from white (Watt, pp. 36, 38). Old rags spread disease (p. 27), so boil a sick person's rags before handling them (rule of thumb). Stalks: ret, break and scutch them like flax ("Linen, nettle and native fibers" in the Clothing & Leather guide).

🔥 Cooking fiber soft

Boiling in alkali removes grease, dirt and the "cementing substances" around the fibers; linen rags lose a fifth to a third of their weight (Watt, p. 45). ⚠️ Lye "can cause blindness if splashed into the eye" (Practical Action, p. 1): gloves, long sleeves, goggles, children away, no aluminum (CAWST, p. 2); flush splashes with plenty of water. Wet lime is caustic too (rule of thumb).

  1. Liquor: wood-ash lye ("Soap from fat and ashes" in the Make-Do guide); potash "affects but slightly" the fiber itself (Watt, p. 19). Or slaked lime, gentler on fine rags (p. 50), which helps pulp "felt together better" (Lime circular, p. 25).
  2. How much: mills used about 5 lb of lime and 3 lb of soda ash per 100 lb of rags (Watt, p. 49), under 1 oz of lime and ½ oz of washing soda per pound (arithmetic). For ash lye, thin egg-floating lye with about 4 parts water (rule of thumb).
  3. Simmer until a fiber pulls apart easily in your fingers, the old test for "tender" rags (Watt, p. 147). Mills boiled 2–6 hours under steam pressure (p. 49); an open pot takes half a day or more (rule of thumb).
  4. Rinse until the water runs clear and the fiber stops feeling slippery, "until free of soda" (Lime circular 337, p. 92). Gloves on until then.
  5. No fuel? Old mills retted rags, piling them damp until tender, with "considerable loss of fibre" to rot (Watt, p. 147).

🔨 Beating fiber into pulp

🪟 The mould, deckle and vat

In Watt (pp. 147–149) the mould is a wooden frame "neatly joined at the corners", with ribs a little over an inch apart and fine wires along it, "about fifteen or twenty in an inch". The deckle, a loose frame on top, "must fit very neatly or the edges of the paper will be rough". The vat was a warmed tub "about 5 feet square and 4 feet deep"; felts of wool cloth go between wet sheets.

Build a small one (rule of thumb, after Watt):

  1. Make two identical frames of straight, dry 1×2 wood, a bit bigger inside than your sheet (about 9 × 12 in for letter paper), corners glued and pegged square.
  2. On one (the mould), fit thin ribs about 1 inch apart, flush with the top, and tack fine window screen tight over them (fiberglass, brass or bronze; steel rusts and stains).
  3. The other frame is the deckle; it must sit snugly on the screen. Oil or wax all the wood.
  4. Vat: a washtub or tote longer than the mould. Felts: two dozen pieces of wool blanket or flannel.

A papermaking mould (a wooden frame with ribs about an inch apart and fine screen on top) beside its deckle (the same frame, empty, about 9 by 12 inches inside), and a cut-through view of the deckle sitting on the mould Two matching frames: the mould carries the ribs and tight screen; the deckle sits snugly on top and makes the sheet's edges (a diagram drawn for this guide).

📄 Forming, couching, pressing and drying

  1. Charge the vat with clean water and pulp, and stir before every sheet to keep it "uniformly mixed" (Watt, p. 148). More pulp, thicker sheets (rule of thumb).
  2. Dip the mould with its deckle and lift "as much of the pulp as will form a sheet of paper" (same page).
  3. Hold it level as it drains, "otherwise … the sheet of paper would be thicker on one part than another". Shake gently front to back, then side to side, "propelling the pulp in four directions" (p. 149). Lift off the deckle.
  4. Couch (say "cooch"): turn the mould face down onto a damp felt, press, and lift it away. Lay another felt on top; keep stacking felt, sheet, felt (same page).
  5. Press hard: the mill used "a very powerful press" (same page); at home, boards above and below and a car jack under a beam, a cider press or heavy stones (rule of thumb). Then take the sheets off the felts, press them gently to remove felt marks, and next day separate and press once more (same page).
  6. Dry slowly, hung over lines; cow-hair ropes "do not stain the paper" (p. 150), and slow loft drying was thought best (p. 145). In wet winters, dry indoors away from direct stove heat (rule of thumb).
  7. Smooth: mills "hot-pressed" sheets between pasteboards with hot iron plates (p. 150); a warm flatiron over a cloth does the same (rule of thumb).

Four steps of forming paper: dipping the mould and deckle into a vat of pulp, shaking it level, turning it face down onto a damp felt, and pressing a stack of felts and sheets between boards Dip, shake level, couch onto a damp felt, then stack felt, sheet, felt and press hard (a diagram drawn for this guide).

Problem Likely cause
Thick and thin patches Mould not held level (Watt, p. 149)
Rough, ragged edges Deckle too loose (p. 148)
Weak paper that tears Fibers chopped too short (p. 129)
Ink spreads like on a blotter Not sized yet (p. 136)
Sheet sticks to the screen Pulp too thin, or mould not pressed firmly onto the felt (rule of thumb)

📚 Go deeper: Watt, ch. XII "Making Paper by Hand", pp. 147–150 — vat, mould, couching, pressing, drying and sizing; ch. IV, p. 45 — boiling rags.

🧴 Sizing: making paper take ink

On unsized paper a pen stroke "would spread in all directions" (Watt, p. 136). Starch stirred into the pulp won't fix it: blotting paper is made "with starch alone" (p. 199). Hand-made paper was dipped in gelatine size after drying (p. 150).

♻️ Recycling scrap paper, cardboard and mending

Re-pulping: tear scraps small and soak them a long time, changing the water now and then; pound the soft mass in a mortar, boil it, and "to give it consistency, add flour-paste or gum" (Leland, p. 159).

✒️ Iron-gall ink

Iron and tannin from galls make a pale ink that the air turns black (NBS Inks, p. 7); it "turned black on the paper" (Household Discoveries, p. 416), darkest in about a week (NBS, p. 26).

The balance matters. Government record ink has about 31 g of tannin (tannic plus gallic acid) to 30 g of iron sulfate per liter (NBS, p. 13), about 1 oz of each per quart (arithmetic). With too little tannin, writing "may become rusty in a comparatively few years" (p. 26); iron sulfate "caused decided weakening of the paper", tannin did not (p. 35), and some old manuscripts have crumbled to their margins (p. 34). When unsure, use less iron.

With galls and copperas (Household Discoveries, p. 417): 2 oz crushed galls, 1 oz gum arabic, 1 oz copperas, 16 oz soft water; stand 2 weeks, shaking often. That is about 1.3 oz tannin to 1 oz copperas, close to the government balance (arithmetic). Leave out the "5 grains of corrosive sublimate" the book adds: it is mercury. Use a few cloves.

No-store recipe (rule of thumb, from the parts above):

  1. Start the iron water weeks ahead.
  2. Tannin tea: 2 oz crushed galls (or a double handful of chopped tanoak bark or dried sumac leaves) steeped overnight in 1 pint of hot, not boiling, rain water; strain through cloth.
  3. In a glass jar, add iron water a spoonful at a time, testing a stroke on paper after each; stop when the strokes dry dark and stop improving. "Some experiments will be required" (Household Discoveries, p. 417).
  4. Stir in a little gum or thin hide-glue size, which keeps the black from settling and fastens it to the paper (NBS, p. 8). Add a few cloves and bottle it.

🖤 Soot ink and other inks

Carbon ink is the oldest: lampblack (soot) or charcoal held in glue, gelatin or gum; India-ink cakes are that paste dried, then rubbed with water (NBS Inks, p. 7). Carbon "cannot be bleached by any amount of exposure to intense light" (p. 37) and is unlikely to harm paper (p. 38).

Homemade India ink (Household Discoveries, p. 419): boil an old kid glove (or a clean hide scrap) "until it forms a thick size"; hold a cold plate in a candle flame and, while it is still warm, mix the soot with the size. Test: let lines dry bone dry and sponge them. "If the ink runs, it is of poor quality."

🧊 Keeping ink, and bringing back faded writing

Restoring faded iron-gall writing. It leaves rust in the strokes, so it can be brought back (faded dye ink leaves "literally nothing behind", NBS, pp. 32–33). "A 2- or 3-percent solution of tannic acid", or gall tea, turns the rust black: "by far the best treatment" (p. 33; Household Discoveries, p. 422).

  1. Brush it on softly, or trace the letters with a pen dipped in it; rinse briefly in clean water and dry, or the whole sheet darkens in time (p. 33).
  2. Try a corner first. For a treasured paper, think twice: NBS advised against treating the Declaration of Independence (p. 34).

📚 Go deeper: NBS Circular 426 Inks — how iron-gall ink works, aging, freezing and restoring; Household Discoveries, pp. 416–422 — dozens of old ink recipes (skip the poisons; see the last section).

🪶 Pens: reed, quill and brush

Reed or bamboo pen (VITA, p. 360):

  1. Take dry bamboo or stiff reed about 6 in × ⅜ in. Whittle one end to width and shave it thin so it flexes, keeping the tip on the hard outer side.
  2. Cut the tip straight across, then shape it "by gently writing on the sandpaper with the dry pen".
  3. For an ink hole, rest the knife point at least ⅛ in up from the tip and twist to drill a hole about 3/32 in.
  4. For a reservoir pen, bind a thin bamboo cover plate on with a rubber band or fine wire (p. 361).

A bamboo reservoir pen from the side and from above: the shaved tip from the hard outer fibers, a fill hole, and a thin notched cover plate bound on to hold extra ink The reservoir pen: the tip cut from the hard outer side of the bamboo, and a thin notched cover plate bound on to hold more ink (VITA, p. 361).

Quill pen (rule of thumb; no book here shows how): take a big goose or turkey wing feather; soak the barrel, harden it in hot sand for a minute, strip the lower barbs and scrape off the outer skin and inner pith. Cut a long scoop on the underside, a short slit up the point, and trim the tip square and thin. Recut it as it wears.

Brush: India ink "applies well with a brush" (Henley's, p. 408). A gold nib "cannot be rusted" by any ink (NBS, p. 18).

✏️ Pencils, charcoal, chalk and slates

Slates save paper. Children learned their tables "upon their slates or on the blackboard" (Ray's Primary, p. 11); a "stick or chalk board" is a toddler's toy (WHO/UNICEF, p. 2); a kitchen slate keeps the list of supplies running low (Household Discoveries, p. 69).

📚 Keeping paper and books from mold

🧻 Toilet paper alternatives: water, cloth, leaves, cobs

There are two ways: wash ("typically … 0.5–3 litres", about 2 cups to 3 quarts) or wipe with "paper, leaves, corncobs, rags or stones" (Compendium, p. 10; arithmetic). Agree as a household what you'll use, and plan a supply that lasts (Sphere, p. 143).

Water: pour from a squeeze bottle or jug with one hand and wash with the other, then wash your hands with soap (rule of thumb). The wash water carries feces: keep it out of the urine bucket; small amounts may soak into the soil (EcoSanRes, p. 38). Pour-flush toilets suit water-washers (Hesperian ch. 7, p. 35).

Cloth wipes ("family cloth") belong to one person each: shared towels spread disease (Ship's Medicine Chest, p. 153; pink eye, Where There Is No Doctor, ch. 16, p. 3). Cut soft cotton (flannel, old T-shirts) 6–8 inches square, a day's worth plus spares each; many families use cloth for urine only (rule of thumb). Used cloths go in a lidded bucket ("Toilet paper alternatives" in the Make-Do guide).

Wash them like cloth diapers:

  1. Rinse in cold water, then wash with soap ("Menstrual pads and diapers" in the Make-Do guide).
  2. Wash above 140 °F, or soak in 0.05% bleach (about 2 Tbsp of 6% bleach per gallon): "Dishes, laundry and periods" and the bleach-strength table in the Sanitation guide.
  3. A little vinegar in the last rinse, as for diapers (Where There Is No Doctor, ch. 15, p. 23). Dry in full sun.
  4. Wash water goes to the latrine or wastewater system, not the garden (Oregon DEQ, p. 12), and never into a creek. Wash a sick person's cloths separately, with bleach (rule of thumb).

Leaves: no book in the library recommends any particular leaf for wiping. Leaves are a normal choice (Compendium, p. 29), but which leaf is up to you. Rub a new one on your inner arm and wait a day before trusting it (rule of thumb).

Other wipes: dried corncobs (Compendium, p. 10); paper scraps crumpled soft (rule of thumb); stones, kept in a separate pile, not in a dry toilet (EcoSanRes, p. 38). Sore bottom from diarrhea: petroleum jelly or zinc oxide cream after each stool (Where Women Have No Doctor, ch. 17, p. 18).

🚽 What can go where

Toilet Goes in Keep out
Septic system "human waste and toilet paper" only (EPA, p. 6) Cloth, cobs, leaves, newspaper, homemade paper, wipes, pads
Flush toilet Toilet paper "Coarse dry cleansing materials may clog the water seal" (Compendium, p. 35)
Twin buckets Paper in the poo bag; shredded paper as cover (OSU, p. 3) Paper in the pee bucket: bag it (same page)
Urine-diverting toilet Wipers and washers; wash water to a third basin (Compendium, p. 30) Pouring water to clean it: use a damp cloth (p. 31)
Composting toilet Paper and leaves help aeration (EcoSanRes, p. 37) Stones; with lime treatment, bin the paper separately (p. 38)
Pit latrine Any of these Size the pit for wipes or water (Sphere, p. 145)

RV toilet paper breaks down best in buckets (OSU, p. 3). Don't flush at all if sewer lines may be broken: "Toilets when the water is off" in the Make-Do guide.

🧼 Wiping, handwashing and children

🧣 Handkerchiefs, towels and reusing paper

⚠️ Old advice in the library to ignore

Book says Do this instead
"5 grains of corrosive sublimate" (mercury) in ink "to prevent mold" (Household Discoveries, p. 417; also pp. 418–419) A few cloves, a little alcohol or essential oil (p. 422)
Corrosive sublimate in paste (Lee's, p. 204) and book varnish (Henley's, p. 127) The starch paste on the same Lee's page; dry, airy shelves
Bichromate of potash in logwood inks (Household Discoveries, p. 418; Lee's, p. 59) Iron-gall or soot ink; logwood-chrome inks "offer no advantage" (NBS, p. 37). Chromium causes cancer (Clothing & Leather guide)
Carbolic acid (phenol), hydrochloric and sulfuric acid in the government formulas (NBS, pp. 13, 16) Leave them out; sulfuric acid "is extremely harmful to paper" (p. 35)
Oxalic-acid blotting paper to lift ink (Henley's, p. 505), and as ink eraser (NBS, p. 36) It is poisonous; tartaric plus citric acid is "much safer", and lemon juice lifts iron rust (same page)
Nitrate of silver marking inks (Household Discoveries, p. 419) Stains and burns skin (rule of thumb); use soot ink
Pencils and inscription plates of melted lead (Shifts, p. 217) Graphite, charcoal, chalk or slate; lead fumes poison (ODFW, p. 27)
Glass crayons of copper sulfate (Henley's, p. 376) and red lead Plain chalk or soapstone (rule of thumb)
Ammonium sulfide fumes to restore writing (NBS, p. 33) Tannin or gall tea (same page)
Chlorine bleaching (Watt, ch. IX, p. 107) and sulfuric-acid "parchment paper" (Watt, p. 199) Keep homemade paper off-white; use waxed paper for jar covers (rule of thumb)

🖼️ Pictures & diagrams

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