The Origami Forum

hello all,
i'm new to wet folding, and i'm slightly confused. do you dampen the paper all over before you start, or do you only wet the bits that you are folding next?
any comments would be appreciated.
thanks.

There are 2 main ways to wet-fold. One is to dampen the paper (on both sides) before you start, generally using a spray bottle or a damp cloth to do so, then fold the model from start to finish while the paper is still wet. More complex origami takes too long to wet-fold this way without the paper drying, so a different technique is needed. For complex origami, the base is folded dry. After this, water or MC is applied to either small parts or the entire thing (I use a small paintbrush), and the final shaping is done wet.

awsome, thanks for the tips, will try this now.
also what paper is good for it? i've heard that tant is good.
thanks.

IMHO, tant should be dry folded up until the end, with wet folding for shaping only. it is actually not that strong, and i would imagine tear alot for complex folds if it were damp.

Well I use many papers to wet fold, but IMHO the best papers are canson, elephant hide, fabria, fabriano and cotton paper.

http://www.langorigami.com/info/paper/w ... apers.php4

Very useful.

If you try to crease a paper and it's too thick to get a good clean crease, the only to fold it IS wet-folding. I don't like wet-folding, but sometimes my choice of paper forces me to. Backcoated unyru is right about at that thickness threshold. When I have backcoated unryu with even thicker things like lokta and Thai Metallics, I had no choice but to wet-fold. My Merlion was a fairly thick white unryu backed with indigo lokta, and it is wet-folded: http://www.flickr.com/photos/oriholic/4667852352/

MC-folding / dry-wet folding is preferable, especially for really complex works.

Also, while, standard wet-folding isn't good on really complex stuff because the paper dries too quickly, a hybrid where instead of water you brush an MC solution all over the paper before folding does work. It's just really sticky, strange, and awkward to fold. I've folded that way once or twice due to impatience in waiting for backcoated sheets to dry. The shaping you can achieve is incredible, because by that point in the folding sequence the MC has mostly dried, and will just about set in whatever position you want. It really isn't fun to fold that way though, unless you like having glue all over your hands--then you'll love it!

thanks to everyone for all your comments and help. i shall try all your suggestions and see which way works for me the most. thanks again.
Andrew.