The Origami Forum

I hear everyone talking about wetfolding and how it makes models look cooler, but what is it and how do you do it?

1. get paper damp
2. fold it lightly
3. let it dry

wont it rip though?

Hence the "fold it lightly."

DISCLAIMER: I don't actually wet-fold. I don't like to.

Choose what you want to fold and fold it dry until you have the folding sequence memorized.

Take a fairly thick, high-quality paper, like Wyndstone Marble/Elephanthide/Canson/parchment might even work.

Dampen it evenly with a washcloth or a fine spray bottle.

Fold, in the air if you can, using soft creases where you can.

Try to finish folding it before the paper dries. You can re-dampen parts of the paper, but usually the inner layers don't get as wet when you do this.

Wet-folding is terrible for things with long, thin, many-layered, precise flaps, like insects, but great for large bulky things with only few layers like elephants, rhinos, etc.

For things with many thin, multi-layered flaps, search the forum for MC folding or methyl cellulose.

thank you! i tried wet folding but i didnt see any difference. could someone show a picture of a model reguarly folded and wet folded?

dogs rock012 wrote:thank you! i tried wet folding but i didnt see any difference. could someone show a picture of a model reguarly folded and wet folded?

http://www.giladorigami.com/Articles_Wetfolding.html

I recommend searching google for things like "wet fold origami". There a lot of good resources out there, including Lang's discussion about paper types and many other articles and examples.

Flickr also has some good examples of finished models.

http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=origami%20wet&w=all

To origamimasterjared:

That sounds extremely difficult. What is the purpose of it?

do you think it would be possible to use this technique with foil paper? I know the foil has a slick surface, so I don't know if it would work or not.

GreyGeese wrote:To origamimasterjared:

That sounds extremely difficult. What is the purpose of it?

Well, I don't actually do wetfolding really. But what it does is give graceful, curved 3-D models. A wetfolded origami model will hold its shape and be very sturdy (you could toss it around if you like), and with the ability to fold subtle curves, can be extremely lifelike.

rayphoenix1080 wrote:do you think it would be possible to use this technique with foil paper? I know the foil has a slick surface, so I don't know if it would work or not.

Folding foil with the white side out is sometimes referred to as "the poor man's wetfolding." While it's much nicer (in my opinion) to fold, It doesn't usually give the smooth curves of wetfolding. It does, however, allow you to thin flaps significantly, and to fold pieces that cannot be easily done from ordinary paper. When I'm not folding something that needs to look particularly good, but has many layers and probably wouldn't work with origami paper, I like to use foil.

Note: You don't wet fold foil.

Well here's the thing-wet folding foil defeats the purpose of both wet folding and foil. The point of foil is to be able to thin flaps a lot and, to an extent, enable more shaping. The foil part will override any wet folding that you try to do-it just doesn't make sense.