Here we go around the mulberry bush!. Mulberry paper is made from the bark of the branches of the renewable mulberry bush. Karnataka, a southern state in India, is the home to the silk industry, Ramanagara being the hub for silk. Did you know? That silk is made from silkworms that feed on mulberry leaves. Mulberry paper is made from mulberry twigs. Farmers often burn the twigs resulting in depletion of biomass and adding to pollution, Therefore when we arrived at the idea at Bluecat Paper, to add this to our range of tree-free paper it generated. Paper from the chopped twigs of the mulberry bush makes for paper that is beautiful, unique and strong.
There are two ways to make this paper.
In process 1, we strip the bark of the mulberry, cook this with soda ash, then begin the process of beating. The bark is cooked and pulped in order to make this gorgeous translucent paper. At times we also add a gentle bleach in order to lighten the colour of the bark. The paper resulting from this is, strong, lithe and has good qualities for turning into tissue paper as well
The other process of mulberry paper is as follows: We use the sticks as they are. We at times add cotton to give strength to the fibers. This resultant mulberry paper is different in texture and is an excellent paper for packaging wedding cards and stationery.
Both these papers are acid-free, sustainable paper and are print-friendly for screen printing purposes.