But because of the grain, machine-made papers swell more in one direction than the other.

(You can easily see the effect of this alignment by trying to tear a sheet of newspaper it will tear much more cleanly in one direction (with the grain) than the other (across the grain).) Paper absorbs moisture from the air, and a change in humidity will cause a slight change in the size of the paper. It is made on a continous belt moving through a paper pulp slurry, and the motion of the belt tends to align the paper fibers along a given direction. Kami, like all machine-made papers, has a definite grain, which comes from the manufacturing process. This is not necessarily due to imprecision in manufacturing, though. And while it is fairly thin (thus using less material, making it cheaper per sheet), it is not very strong, as generations of folders attempting to use it to fold insects, can attest!Īnd it is not always square, to boot. The paper is not archival, and the dyes are unstable, so it degrades over a period of years. It was colored on one side, because that’s cheaper.

What we think of as traditional origami paper-generally called kami-was actually developed in the early 20th century for use in schools, using inexpensive, western-style machine-made paper. (Or nearly so more on that in a minute.) It seems like this paper must be the ideal paper for origami, possibly made by hand according to ancient tradition and used for origami for perhaps hundreds of years! It’s relatively thin, brightly colored (most packages contain an assortment of colors), and, conveniently, it is already cut to square. I regularly get asked, “do you have to use that special Japanese origami paper that comes in the little square packages?” It’s true, there is paper made especially for origami, and most art or craft stores carry it. But airmail paper is very similar-thin, crisp, and strong-and email has yet to kill it off. Although I’m still working on the first 1000-sheet ream of manifold that I ever bought, it’s been a long time since I’ve seen it in stationery stores. Alas, multicarbon forms seem to be a casualty of the commercial photocopier. Manifold paper was quite thin (9 lb., using the American system of paper weights see here for conversions), but unlike newsprint and magazine paper, it was crisp and took creases nicely. Second Sheet, Manifold, and Airmail Paperįor many years, my paper of choice was a type called “second sheet” or “manifold.” These names came from the days before copy machines, when business forms came in packets of several sheets with carbon paper between the layers, so that when you filled out the form you were making multiple copies. They have two big weaknesses: they are weak (and so tear easily), and even worse, they don’t hold creases very well at all. But if you try them out, you’ll find that magazine paper and newsprint are really lousy papers for origami. Both are tempting, particularly because they are generally much thinner than copy paper.

Magazine and NewsprintĮven more ubiquitous than copy paper is magazine paper and newsprint. But as the world of origami has progressed over the last few decades, the complexity of origami designs has grown, and for many designs-and almost everything I compose these days-copy paper is just too thick. It takes a crease nicely and doesn’t easily wrinkle. And all it needs is to be cut (or torn) to square, and you’re ready to fold.įor simple folds, copy paper works very well. Nowadays, the equivalent paper would be copy paper-used or unused. One of the things that first attracted me to origami as a child was that the tools were all around me all I needed were my hands and a sheet of paper, and I could find paper anywhere! For many years, I used pads of obsolete business forms from my Dad’s business, cut to square. On this page, I’ll talk a little bit about the most common types of paper for origami and my own experiences with them. There is no single answer it depends on what you’re folding. I am often asked what kind of paper to use for origami.

Origami paper