Converting Waste Agricultural Biomass into a Resource - UNEP

1. Vatting - Fill your vat halfway with water. The vat should at least seven
inches deep and two inches larger than your deckle and mould. Add
fiber pulp to the vat and give your pulp a good stir. While the pulp still
moving, dip your mould-and-deckle, front edge first, into the pulp. Lift it
out of the vat and give it a little shake. This will let fibers woven
together to a stronger paper.
2. Draining - Drain the water for about five minutes. Take off the deckle.
Do this carefully. If water dropped onto newly formed sheet by
accident, take your mould back to the vat.
3. Couching - Smoothly but not too slowly roll the mould, paper side
down, onto a wet felt, or a blotting paper, with a stack of newspaper
underneath. This will drive away the air between the paper and felt.
Gently remove the mould.
Repeat the process until you have as many sheets as you want, each
with its felt between the sheets.
4. Pressing - Put another piece of wet felt or blotting paper over the
newly-made papers, and press out the water with a rolling pin. Peel off
the top sheet wet felt very carefully. Let it dry.
Advantages to Developing Countries
In developing countries like the Philippines, the Filipinos are among the
world’s biggest rice consumers. The average Filipino consumes about 100
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