Types of Paper

Paper comes in a variety of sizes, colors, styles and weights.  It has a number of uses and has been around since it was invented by early Chinese civilizations. In fact, paper making and printing are two of the four great Chinese inventions. Of course, paper is used for printing, writing, packaging and a host of other every day uses.

Paper Origins

Ancient Egyptians were known for using papyrus as a form of paper for writings.  The thin material came from the papyrus plant and was made into scrolls.  The writing surface comes from soft, spongy pith in the the plant stem that is cut into long strips, moistened and layered with additional strips.  Then the sheets are beaten together and dried.  The first paper mills were built in the Middle East before Europe caught on the process in the 12th century.

How Paper is Made

Paper comes from wood, grass or rags.  Making it involves extracting pulp fibers, making them moist, forming them together into sheets and allowing them to dry.  Generally the key to making paper is extracting and formulating the pulp from the wood.  Paper producers use one of two main processes, chemical pulping or mechanical pulping.  Chemical pulping generally involves breaking down the lignin from the tree using a chemical agent such as sodium hydroxide or sodium sulfide.  In the mechanical process, machinery is used to actually squeeze the fiber together.  The mechanical process is cheaper than the chemical process, but the paper is not as strong and its characteristics change over time.  The paper can become yellow and disintegrate.  The more lignin that is removed during the processing, the higher the quality of paper fibers.  However, removing more lignin requires the use of more wood.

Paper that is produced through the mechanical process is generally called groundwood because the process still leaves a high percentage of pulp in the product.  Newspapers are usually from mechanically processed paper.  On the other hand, paper that has gone through the chemical process is called freesheet because it generally has no remaining pulp.

Types of Paper

When you usually grab a piece of paper either for printing or writing, it is an 8 1/2 x 11" sheet or 11x17" sheet.  However, paper comes in a variety of different sizes, colors, thicknesses and weights.  Paper sold in the U.S. usually comes in a few common weights:  20 lb, 24 lb or 32 lb. The weight is determined by the how much the paper weighs when it is cut for size.  For example, you could have two reams of 8 1/2x11" paper.  But, one ream could be considered 20 lb. paper and the other one 24 lb. paper.  The difference would be in the weight of the paper before it is cut and also its thickness.  Another measurement for paper is its thickness or point size.  Sheets are measured in thousandths of an inch.  Twenty pound paper may have a thickness of 3.8 pt.  That means it is .0038 inches thick.

• Kraft paper is a type of paper that you generally see used for things like brown paper bags, envelopes and packaging.  Kraft paper is made through a chemical process that uses sodium hydroxide and sodium sulfide to break down the wood into pulp and fibers.  Kraft paper usually comes out dark, but it can be whitened with bleach and used for high quality paper.  Kraft paper that is bleached is usually very strong and can be long-lasting.
  
  
• Manila paper, envelopes and files comes from the manila hemp plant.  It can serve a number of uses and is typically strong.  The paper is manufactured through a chemical process and is good for for printing.
  
  
• Bond paper used to be used by banks for printing government bonds.  But, today it is just a good paper for stationary, letterheads and printing.  Bond paper is produced  from the eucalyptus pulp.
  
  
• Every child and parent knows construction paper when they see it.  It is usually comes in a multi-pack of colors and is used for cutting, drawing or whatever creativity strikes at the moment.  Construction paper is made from a combination of wood, hot water and recycled paper to give it color.
  
  
• Cotton paper is commonly a high-quality paper made from cotton fibers.  It can last for decades and so it many times is used for legal documents and papers that need longevity, like money.  The American dollar is printed on cotton paper.  While many producers of cotton paper use 100 percent cotton, some cotton paper can range from 25-50 percent cotton.
  
  
• Sandpaper is paper that has a gritty, harsh coating added.  That coating is used to rub against other surfaces to make them smooth.  Sandpapers are sold according the level of abrasive material added.  The abrasive materials range from coarse to medium to fine.
  
  
• Wax paper is generally used in the kitchen for cooking and is a kind of paper that has wax added to it.  The advantage of wax paper is that it locks out moisture and it reduces sticking.  Thomas Edison is said to have invented wax
  paper.
  
  
• Paper towels are a mainstay in U.S. households with a roll sitting by nearly every kitchen sink.  Paper towels are light-weight, disposable tissue paper most often used for drying hands or wiping counters, sinks and spills.  Americans are top consumers of disposable paper tissue products like paper towels and toilet tissues.
  
  
• Toilet paper is the number one consumed disposable paper tissue product in America.  Its use is self-explanatory and it is designed to disintegrate in plumbing and sewer systems.  A growing number of toilet tissue producers are using tree farms as their source for toilet tissue production.
  
  
• Electronic paper is the newest technology that does not use paper at all.  Instead, electronic devices designed to simulate paper are finding their way into consumer hands in the form of e-book readers,  mobile phones and digital schoolbooks.
  

Recycled Paper

Recycling paper is a positive way to impact the environment and extend the lifespan of trees and forests around the world.  Recycling of paper is generally done in one of three ways.  Paper manufacturers save their paper scraps to be used in future production.  Waste that is left over before paper products hit the consumer market are saved and recycled into future productions.  And, consumer items like old newspapers, magazines and other paper products are collected so that they can be converted into new paper products.

In the United States today, a majority of paper products produced come from recycled products.  In fact, Americans recycle more paper than they throw away.