A Brief History About Paper
Everyone is familiar with paper and uses it almost everyday. From the good books, product containers to toilet papers, all these are paper products.
But where did this paper come from and what made it unique?. Well, the history of paper dates back to some 2000 years ago in ancient Egypt.
The then paper was first made by the Egyptians but was called papyrus from the Cyperus plant “papyrus“. This term derived the name “paper” as we all know it today.
Papyrus was made by stripping thin ribbons of the papyrus plant and align them horizontally and vertically to each other. The strips where then pounded and the glue syrup from the papyrus plant sticked them together forming a writing surface.
This method produced an uneven surface both the top and edges. Furthermore, it was prone to crumbling if folded too many times.
It was then later on paper was first produced in China by a Chinese court official, Ts’ai Lun. He mixed mulberry barks and cloth rags with water and pounded out the liquid and placed the paper pulp in sun to dry.
Later on in the 8th century, Muslims later invaded China and learnt the Chinese way of making paper. From there, the method spread across other regions including Europe, Africa and Asia.
The first paper mill was built in Spain. In the 15th century, England began supplying huge quantities of paper across the world including America. In 1690, the first paper mill was established in Pennsylvania.
Because cloth rugs were expensive and sparse, tree fibers were then used to make paper in modern paper mills.
Up to now, trees have been the most used resource to manufacture paper because of it’s abundant supply.
Fortunately, the recyclability of paper makes paper to be made from paper again. This saves trees. Other recyclable materials like wood chunks left from manufacturing wood products can also be used to make paper
Today, as demand for paper increases, paper is manufactured with advanced techniques than the traditional methods.
Electropolishing for the Paper Mill Industry; src Delstar Metal