Least absorbent paper.

Grendel · Post by **Grendel** » Sat Jul 30, 2022 10:08 pm

Not strictly a decorating question but a question directed at those decorators who have experience with various papers.
As a hobby I re-enact and as part of the show we have a table set up for people to try calligraphy with quills. As you can probably understand most kids just try to write their name and frankly make a mess of it. To cut down costs we've been using ikea lining paper ( not sure on the weight sorry) but it seems to suffer from being really quite absorbent and makes any writing look even worse.
What we are looking for is a paper that's less absorbent ( and hopefully not too expensive) . It doesn't really even need tobe lining paper as it generally only gets used on one side. Sorry if this is a sort of "what's the worst paper to use" type of question but thought I'd ask anyway...

big-all · Post by **big-all** » Sat Jul 30, 2022 11:31 pm

my thoughts
if its not very absorbent then most sits on the surface
perhaps 3 layers== one plastic on table ==then lining paper
then perhaps sponge or felt i dont know really as you are trying to solve more than one problem so trial and error
think off grease proof paper 'kitchen roll 'cling film 'lining paper old cheap wallpaper rolls simply trial and error is the answer in my oppinion :dunno:

dewaltdisney · Post by **dewaltdisney** » Sun Jul 31, 2022 7:48 am

When I was a kid in the 50s they gave us sugar paper to paint on. As I recall it was quite tough on leak through with paints and ink. In those days it was a by-product of sugar-beat pulp. These days it is called construction paper and a quick search showed a 10m roll for £15. Might be worth investigating.

DWD

Grendel · Post by **Grendel** » Sun Jul 31, 2022 8:09 am

Thanks for your thoughts. Perhaps I should add a little more information. One member of the group runs a nursery and uses the ikea lining paper for the kids to write and paint upon. She uses that particular paper because it's fairly cheap and there's an ikea store near to her but she has commented that it seems to be noticeably more absorbent than it used to be and causes ink to spread out more. The lining paper is also a decent size for us as it just fits over the slope we use and we can easily unroll it , think the same idea as the towel on a roll type of things in public toilets.
We're using water based washable ink which perhaps compounds the problem but the way some kids seem to scoup up the ink rather than gently dipping the quill means they are likely to get it all over their hands which then need washing.
I suppose wallpaper is designed more to soak up the paste rather than be written upon and we are trying to find a cheap compromise. I shall look into the construction paper. Is it the same stuff that was called building paper , brownish on one side and black on the other?

big-all · Post by **big-all** » Sun Jul 31, 2022 9:05 am

Maybe wooden dowel or something where it needs several trips back to load up perhaps a groove or two to catch and release some content :dunno:

Tom d'Angler · Post by **Tom d'Angler** » Mon Aug 01, 2022 6:57 pm

Grendel wrote: ↑Sun Jul 31, 2022 8:09 am she has commented that it seems to be noticeably more absorbent than it used to be and causes ink to spread out more

Interesting. I have been using Wallrock Fibreliner without any trouble for a few years now but the last time I use it the surface was noticeably rough (think 180 grade sandpaper) after two coats of vinyl matt. I look at it using a magnifying glass and it appears to be paper fibres that have raised. I have used the same paste as always and prepared the wall as usual. I contacted Earfart, or whatever they are called, and they suggested that I had hung it back to front, which I most certainly had not. Luckily it was only on one wall so I'm going back soon to replace it with the premium Wallrock version and hope that's better.

Grendel · Post by **Grendel** » Mon Aug 01, 2022 7:51 pm

I've also been looking around the internet to see if I can get any wiser. I see mention of some papers having had a pvc content which I assume is getting less these days and wondered if that might have an effect. Unfortunately there seems to be no i formation on any rolls themselves. The writing itself is a bit akin to painting in that there is definitely a technique , holding the quill correctly , a lot of kids seem to hold it upside down , not overloading the quill whereas kids seem to try and scoup up the ink and daub it on.
We are thinking of trying a heavier grade of paper or at least one that looks smoother as a test against the ikea stuff. My friend sent me a picture of the label and there's no mention of weights or anything like that , it's just "lining paper" . £4 for 30 metres , so cheap and it wouldn't bankrupt us to go for something a bit dearer.

Grendel · Post by **Grendel** » Mon Aug 01, 2022 7:58 pm

I've had a look at the sugar paper or construction paper and it all seems to be brightly coloured so not really what we are looking for but thanks for the suggestion.

big-all · Post by **big-all** » Mon Aug 01, 2022 9:44 pm

another though
would a different bird or feather position on the goose/duck/swan make any difference or even treatment or cutting the feather make much difference ??? :dunno:

also is it possible to alter the viscosity off the fluids :dunno:

Grendel · Post by **Grendel** » Tue Aug 02, 2022 7:05 am

Thanks for giving it some thought. We use generally goose or sawn feathers with the occasional turkey feather finding it's way in. Smaller feathers don't really do the job. We cut and dry them fully before use and have tried small variations in the cutting. There's a limit as to how much variance in shape can be done , a pen nib is what it is unfortunately. Again a lot comes down to technique , using a fountain pen takes more thought than using a pencil or crayon. In the same way as some kids push on a paintbrush as opposed to trying to make the bristles flow. It's further compounded by them over dipping and the quill becoming covered and thus they will hold it further away from the nib which seems to reduce control even more. We get round that by cleaning frequently and trying not to let the kids leave the quills in the inkpot.
The viscosity is an area we've looked at and experimented with. Original medieval ink was definitely thicker , made with oak galls , gum arabic and so on but that would be too expensive just for kids to play with. We have found thicker ink works better but of course there is a downside. It tends to dry slower and is more "sticky" and we end up with more kids with their hands covered. It can be awkward getting the right balance especially when one is trying to mix up the ink on an event.