How to Make Paper From Laundry Lint

You’ve put your clothing in the drier and are waiting for the buzzer to sound, You go down to get the clothing out of the drier only to find that it’s not thoroughly dry. Why not? It’s likely because you haven’t cleaned out the lint trap lately. The lint trap is designed to catch the lint that automatically comes out of clothing during the drying process. The lint remains in the trap until you can remove it. If you don’t clean out the trap on a regular basis, the clothing will not dry. But what do you do with all of the lint after you’ve taken it out? There are a few things that you can do to recycle lint, including putting the lint outside for the birds to use in their nests. Or you can use it to make paper!

Making Paper

Paper is so inexpensive now days that we don’t think twice about going out and buying a notebook or a ream of paper for our printer, but that doesn’t mean that it’s a good thing. Paper is made from trees, and some of those trees could be saved if we only learned how to make paper from something else, like lint. While you may not want to send business proposals on paper made from lint, it can be a great for youngsters to use for drawing, or for you to use for your grocery list.

How to Do It

In order to make paper out of lint, you’ll need a few things. Lint, of course, warm water, some frames that you’ve made out of wood, or some picture frames that are made out of wood, screening that you’d find on a window, scissors, a staple gun, a tub, a blender, and some fabric. The process is actually very easy, although it can be messy, so if you’re going to be doing it with young children, it’s best to make sure that you are there helping them throughout the entire process.

To start, you need to do some construction. In order to make the deckle (a support for the paper) and the mold, you’ll need the screening and the wood. The wood should be framed to the size of paper that you want to make. This shouldn’t be too large, usually less than a foot square. Both the deckle and the mold should be the same size. You then take the screen and staple it to the mold. Make sure that the screen is like window screen, with a fine mesh rather than a large screen with holes. The deckle will be put on top of the mold which is why it has to be the same size.

Next, it’s time to soak your lint. The lint should be put in the warm water and soaked – the longer, the better. It needs to be soaked for at least thirty minutes, and you can even soak it over night. To add some character to the paper, you can add some shredded paper to it or even some dead leaves. This makes unique looking paper and can actually help you with your recycling goals. Once the lint has soaked enough, it’s time to use the blender. Scoop out a cup of the lint and put it into the blender. Then add enough water to fill the blender almost to the top. Do not worry if you have more water than lint, as this is exactly what you want. Blend the two together until you have a great, mushy mess.

Once you’ve turned it into mush, it’s time to pour the mush into a tub or bucket. A sink works beautifully for this step as well. You need to be able to fit the mold and the deckle into the tub, so make sure it’s large enough. Then continue to blend the lint, adding a cup of lint and lots of water, until you have a few inches of “mush” in the bottom of the tub or sink. Next, put your deckle and mold in the tub, with the mold on the bottom, screen side up, and the deckle on the top. Slowly remove the mold and deckle from the water and let it drip for a couple of seconds. Once it has dripped, remove the deckle from the mold. The deckle gives your paper a straight edge. Use a sponge to soak up the excess water and sit the mold on the fabric so that it can dry. Then use the mold and deckle again. For each piece of paper you make, be sure there is some fabric between each page. Finally, put fabric on the top of the pile of pages and use a heavy book to press it all flat. In a number of hours, usually about six if you’re drying the paper indoors, you’ll have your very own lint paper to use as you wish.