FreeShip- Paper Mache, Prepared Powder Pulp- (Prompt rebate on orders with 3 or more FreeShip items!)

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This Paper Mache Prepared Powder Pulp (PPP) has excellent properties. It is not the "traditional" paper mache of strips of newspaper dipped in thin glue but it's intended to be used with traditional paper mache to quickly bulk up a traditional form. This is a powder that has paper pulp formulated by a third party supplier. It contains a clay filler in it, and a small amount of plaster. It's similar to our Plasterworks ClayPlaster except ClayPlaster doesn't have paper pulp in it, it has a very thin polymer fiber reinforcement. ClayPlaster is not intended to augment traditional paper mache (although it could be, but it would be overkill, the PPP would be a better choice). "ClayPlaster" has smaller particles in it and can take finer detail than PPP. It also has a harder Gypsum Cement instead of plaster-of-paris. Think of ClayPlaster as mainly Gypsum Cement that has a clay plasticizer in it. It cures via the gypsum cement content. When the gypsum cement starts to harden, it will harden equally throughout the entire mass. Think of the material in this listing, (PPP), as mainly a paper mache paper pulp with a secondary ingredient of clay and a third ingredient of a small amount of plaster. When the plaster hardens (in approximately two hours), it hardens throughout, but it is such a small amount of plaster that it is a very weak hardening. It is not strong enough to call it cured throughout. If you squeeze it in your fingers it will easily "squish" and turn back into a paste or clay (depending on how much water you added to it), overcoming the soft setting of the plaster that's in it. If you manipulate it to make a shape, let it dry for a day or so, then put it in a 125-150 F oven for several hours, the outside of the shape will be quite hard, but if you try carving it and go too deep into the shape, you'll find the center of the shape to be soft (like a mix of paper mache and clay). So, the small amount of plaster is just a kick to get it to start hardening. If you make a shape and let it air dry for a week or more, or if you let it air dry for a day or two then put it in the low heat oven for a day or so, it might be hard throughout. When it is hard (on the outside from being in an oven) it is hard enough to stand up to a thumb nail trying to dig into it (not successfully). When a sharp steel tool is used on the PPP it's fairly hard but not as hard as completely cured and oven dried ClayPlaster, which is *very* hard (throughout). You can get pretty good detail with PPP, and it has a fair amount of plasticity. It's stronger and harder than pottery plaster. We also carry a virgin wood paper pulp that has no other ingredients in it, so you can in effect change the properties of PPP (or ClayPlaster) by either adding some paper pulp or even some standard clay. Note that if you did that with ClayPlaster, the result would be weaker than using it as is. The ingredients are pretty fine tuned for maximum strength. The virgin pulp has just pure cellulose fiber. It's very high quality and fine, if mixed with the right materials you can get fine detail with it and make your own paper pulper blend. Just do a store search for "paper pulp" to find it in our store.

This is a commercially formulated version of PPP. If you want the traditional kind there are instructions for making it further below. "Chewed paper" is the translation of the French "papier-mache". In the US we call it "paper mache"..
Paper mache is a seemingly simple material. If you don't want commercial types, directions for a paper strip, homemade version are simply to dip strips of torn newspaper (torn strips work better than cut strips) into a white glue and (/or) flour solution and build up layers over some easy to make armature like wades of aluminum foil or aluminum foil over chicken wire for the large pieces. There is a very easy aluminum metal mesh easy to shape into more complex shapes but it's pricy (Amaco Wireform; Michael's has it). Objects like bowls can also work well for simple shapes. Wads of paper will work in a pinch but they tend to steal the water from the first laid dampened strips of paper making the combined structure somewhat weaker in the first layers. That traditional paper mache, using paper strips with glue/goo built up in layers eventually became the de rigueur version of paper mache (as opposed to "chewed paper"!). Paper mache pulp (like PPP) became an innovative, "new" medium.

You can check out the internet for suppliers of pure cellulose or even easier to use dried paper pulp, or even more easy commercially prepared powder pulp, PPP (with all ingredients added except water). Lets assume you have the latter which is what this prepared paper mache is all about. You simply add water to the dry paper mache powder until it's a sticky thick paste. It doesn't take much water, Mixing by hand is an option, but using some kind of kitchen mixer in the early stages is so much faster. Add more powder until it becomes too thick for the powered mixer to handle, then remove it from the bowl, put it on a counter surface and knead it like dough (sprinkle some powder on the counter first), add powder until it's thick enough to become clay-like and self-cohesive. Kneading makes it become more plastic, removes trapped air pockets and bubbles.
Warning: stored PPP (mixed with water) can develop mold. Adding salt (1 teaspoon per cup of mixed PPP) when mixing it will help prevent mold.

You may want to use your Prepared Powder Pulp (PPP) in conjunction with a previously made Paper Mache form that's been made with the layers of torn strips of paper, that was one of its intended purposes. The PPP allows you to add sculptural details to the simpler shape made with the paper strip method.
There are many different formulas for making your own dipping fluid for wetting the paper strips, "gluing" them together in multiple layers of paper. They range from the least expense simplest flour and water "glue" (cheap but also the weakest), to middle-of-the-road wallpaper paste, to more sophisticated mixtures of various water based polymers like wood glue which will give you a very strong end product. Probably the most used polymer is Elmer's Glue-All which is easy to find and not as expensive as the similar labeled wood glues, like "Tite-Bond". A good mixture using the Elmer's is equal parts water and glue. Simply dip the paper strips into the thinned glue until they're saturated through and through, then raise them out of the glue bowl and remove excess glue with a squeegee move using your fingers. Apply strips over your armature (discussed above) until you have a thick enough structure to be sufficiently strong depending on how large your paper mache construction is. Small forms around a minimum of 4 or 5 layers, larger ones a minimum of 8 to 15 layers.

If you're interested in the history of paper mache and unusual uses for it, read on:

Papier-mâché has been used for doll heads starting as early as 1540, molded in two parts from a mixture of paper pulp, clay, and plaster, and then glued together, with the head then smoothed, painted and varnished.
Wikipedia, as usual, has some interesting details:
{ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papier-m%C3%A2ch%C3%A9 }
"One common item made in the 19th century in America was the paper canoe, most famously made by Waters & Sons of Troy, New York. The invention of the continuous sheet paper machine allows paper sheets to be made of any length, and this made an ideal material for building a seamless boat hull. The paper of the time was significantly stretchier than modern paper, especially when damp, and this was used to good effect in the manufacture of paper boats...Few examples of paper boats [have] survived. One of the best known paper boats was the canoe, the "Maria Theresa", used by Nathaniel Holmes Bishop to travel from New York to Florida in 1874–75. An account of his travels was published in the book "Voyage of the Paper Canoe"...
Papier-mâché panels were used in the late 19th century and early 20th century to produce lightweight domes, used primarily for observatories. The domes were constructed over a wooden or iron framework, and the first ones were made by the same manufacturer that made the early paper boats, Waters & Sons. The domes used in observatories had to be light in weight so that they could easily be rotated to position the telescope opening in any direction, and large enough so that it could cover the large refractor telescopes in use at the time...
From about 1915 in World War I, the British were beginning to counter the highly effective sniping of the Germans. Among the techniques the British developed was to employ papier-mâché figures resembling soldiers to draw sniper fire. Some were equipped with an apparatus that produced smoke from a cigarette, to increase the realism of the effect. Bullet holes in the decoys were used to determine the position of enemy snipers who had fired the shots. Very high success rates were claimed for this expedient...
"In ancient Egypt, coffins and death masks were often made from cartonnage—layers of papyrus or linen covered with plaster...
The Chinese under the ruling of the Han dynasty appeared to first use papier-mâché around 200 AD, not long after they learned how to make paper. They employed the technique to make items such as warrior helmets, mirror cases, snuff boxes, or ceremonial masks...
Starting around 1725 in Europe, gilded papier-mâché began to appear as a low-cost alternative to similarly treated plaster or carved wood in architecture. Henry Clay of Birmingham, England, patented a process for treating laminated sheets of paper with linseed oil to produce waterproof panels in 1772. These sheets were used for building coach door panels as well as other structural uses. Theodore Jennens patented a process in 1847 for steaming and pressing these laminated sheets into various shapes, which were then used to manufacture trays, chair backs, and structural panels, usually laid over a wood or metal armature for strength. The papier-mâché was smoothed and lacquered, or finished with a pearl shell finish. The industry lasted through the 19th century. Russia had a thriving industry in ornamental papier-mâché. A large assortment of painted Russian papier-mâché items appear in a Tiffany & Co. catalog from 1893. Martin Travers the English ecclesiastical designer made much use of papier-mâché for his church furnishings in the 1930s."

Reviews

Reviews (9)

Average:

Dec 17, 2024

Helpful for your Paper Mache making needs

Ryan Wellman

Jun 1, 2024

Can’t wait to try this. Thanks for offering this product for sale!

Lori Potts

Mar 10, 2024

Perfect as always. Thank you.

Ann Arnold

Mar 3, 2024

Get item and will buy again.

Ann Arnold

Oct 15, 2023

Can't wait to see how my turkey turns out. So far so good.

Ann Arnold