Chopping rags for cotton paper

At the paper-making museum…

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Water power...

Claudia: The best paper is made of 100% cotton. Rags are collected and put in vats. Water turns the wheel and the camshaft raises the hammers. Then the hammers drop beating the rags to pulp.

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Ariana: The noise.

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Claudia: Yes. The hammers have nails in their heads. It helps chop the rags. Amazing what they did with a wooden machine driven by water.

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Voice-over

Water turned the wheel. Water helped make pulp. Later, water was turned to steam to dry the paper.

Older methods of paper-making like producing archive-quality cotton-based paper contrast with ecologically sympathetic hydro-electrically mass-produced paper. Fabriano: a UNESCO Creative City.

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