Blend It Into Pulp

From block to mush

To make paper, we first turn the hard block into soft, wet pulp. Pulp is a soupy mush of tiny fibers floating in water. When we press pulp flat and dry it, it becomes paper.

Ready? Wash your hands first. And grab your grown-up. Let's make some mush!

Step 1: Break it up

Crumble the spent block into small bits with your fingers. Little pieces soak and blend much better than big lumps.

While you crumble, pull out any bits you do not want:

• Big hard chunks of wood

• Any fuzzy green or black moldy spots

Toss those bits away. Keep the nice crumbly parts.

Step 2: Soak it soft

Put your crumbs in a bowl. Your grown-up adds warm water to cover them. Warm water helps the fibers get soft and floppy.

Now the hardest part... waiting! Let the crumbs soak for a few hours. They will turn soft and squishy, like a wet sponge.

Step 3: A grown-up blends it

Here comes the noisy part. Blending is a grown-up job, because a blender has sharp, fast spinning blades. You get to watch, listen, and count!

Your grown-up:

1. Scoops a small handful of soaked crumbs into the blender.

2. Adds plenty of clean water.

3. Blends until it looks like a smooth, fibery soup.

That soup is your pulp. Well done!

Add paper for strength

Here is a helper trick. Mushroom pulp on its own can be a bit weak and crumbly. So we mix in some torn-up recycled paper — like old newspaper or an egg carton.

Soak the torn paper too, then blend it right in with the mushroom bits. The plant fibers in the paper make your sheet stronger, and the mushroom bits give it a lovely bumpy, speckled look.

Only a grown-up touches the blender. You are the boss of crumbling, soaking, and watching. Teamwork makes the best paper!

Next, we scoop the pulp onto a screen and pull our first sheet.