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For the Comensals zine I wanted the paper to be made from waste, by hand, instead of bought. This is the process I used to make paper from kitchen scraps and old paper, and the mould and deckle I built to do it.
Materials and scraps
I collected things that were going to be thrown out: orange peels, banana skins, egg cartons, and old paper. I dried the peels in the sun first so they'd keep until I had enough to work with.
Building the deckle
A mould and deckle is a frame with a mesh stretched over it. You dip it into a tub of pulp, lift it out flat, and the water drains through the mesh, leaving a layer of fibre that becomes the sheet.
I first borrowed one from Elisava, but the mesh was too loose, which makes the sheets sag and uneven. So I built my own at Transfo Lab in Barcelona out of foraged wood, then stretched mosquito mesh over the frame at home. The tension of the mesh is what determines whether the sheet comes out flat.
Making the pulp
I tore up the paper and egg cartons and soaked them, then added the peels and scraps, covered everything with water, and blended it into a pulp with an immersion blender. To be honest I didn't measure anything, it was trial and error across several batches and the ratio changed each time depending on what scraps I had. The fruit peels still needed structural assistance with fibers from recycled paper and egg carton. I didn't love the color of the egg carton as a interesting green brown, but the color of the orange peel disguised the color well.
Pulling the sheets
I poured the pulp into a tub, dipped the deckle in, lifted it out level, and let it drain. Then I pressed each wet sheet out onto a board or cloth to dry.
Drying
The sheets dried flat for a few hours or over night. This part needs its time as pulling them too early tears it.
Problems along the way
A few things went wrong, and they're worth documenting:
- The borrowed deckle's mesh was too loose, which is why I built my own.
- Sheets tore when I lifted the deckle too fast or pressed them too early.
- Peels that weren't blended finely enough left chunks and holes in the paper.
- Many sheets warped as they dried, especially the ones with fruit peels
Each of these taught me something about timing, mesh tension, or how fine the pulp needs to be.
Results
The finished sheets came out in different colours and textures depending on the batch — greener ones from one mix, orange-pink ones from the peel-heavy batches. None of them match, which suits the project.
The paper became the pages of the zine. At MDEFest, people could eat fruit, leave the peel, and write something they wanted to break down, which goes back into the pulp for the next batch of paper. So the paper is part of a loop rather than a finished output: scraps → pulp → paper → zine → back to pulp.
[ photo: 7eeaaf6b — zine on the paper ]
The zine also lives online here: https://laurenwillihnganz-ai.github.io/comensals01/
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