The Origami Forum

Can someone please explain what mulberry paper is? I've seen a kawasaki rose folded from that paper and it looked very good so I wanted to try it. Is it thick though and where can you find it? Oh and what is elephant hide? I saw a model Joseph Wu made called Seren's Horse and it was made from elephant hide too! (oh and Joseph Wu I must say that is a very awesome model!) I have been wanting to ask these questions but never have been able until now!

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Well, I don't know if this is the same thing. I assume that it is. So, here are the links I found on this subject.

http://www.unicraft.cc/products/0000q20 ... paper.html


http://www.dickblick.com/zz104/10/


http://www.papermojo.com/

Click on Mulberry Paper when you go to this third site.

I have gotten my mulberry papers from http://handmade-paper.us/

They have an impressive selection. I particularly like the 3-D marbled mulberry stuff.

I'm going to go to my local Hobby Lobby (a big craft store) and look for mulberry paper. I think I've seen it before but never got it. I'm getting the paper for some models I'm folding for a display at a library near us, so I want to amaze people. I'm going to put cards next to them telling who first designed the model and so on, so that the creator gets credited though so no worries!
Oh and thanks Nesting crane and malachi for the sites, I learned the multiple names for mulberry paper never knew you could make so many names for one paper!

Thanks to Phil's pics I want to try mulberry paper now!

Mulberry paper is any paper that consists mainly of fibre from the mulberry tree. In Japanese, this fibre is called kozo. It's a long, shiny fibre, and can most easily be seen in unryu tissue paper.

Elephant hide is a paper made by Zanders from Germany. I can never spell the German name correctly, but it's something like elefantenhaut. (Christian can probably correct me on this.) In North America, it is distributed by Wyndstone under the name marble. Elephant hide is a stiff paper with a lot of internal sizing (the glue the bonds the paper fibres together) and a smooth finish. It works well for both tension folding (due to its stiffness and strength) and wet folding (due to the sizing).

So people actually dry fold from elephant hide? I hadn't considered that! Perhaps I should pick a relatively thin model to try folding with, I still have several sheets around.

I can never spell the German name correctly, but it's something like elefantenhaut. (Christian can probably correct me on this.)

Elefantenhaut is correct
maybe I should mention, that it's a noun, and all nouns begin with a capital first letter... so the correct word is: Elefantenhaut

Perhaps I should pick a relatively thin model to try folding with, I still have several sheets around.

thin model? do you mean a model with view layers?
elephant hide is perfect for folding 3D models, because it keeps it's shape after it's dried. for the first time, you should use an easy model with only a few steps. and try to find a sheet as big as possibel, because it's a very thick paper.


Christian

TheRealChris wrote:maybe I should mention, that it's a noun, and all nouns begin with a capital first letter... so the correct word is: Elefantenhaut

Spreche kein Deutsch. (I had to use that a few times in Salzburg.)

DavidW wrote:So people actually dry fold from elephant hide? I hadn't considered that! Perhaps I should pick a relatively thin model to try folding with, I still have several sheets around.

All the time. It's my favourite dry tension paper. My baby elephant and Seren's horse are both dry folded from Elefantenhaut.

I'm confused.

Is this Elephant Hide paper made from actual Elephant Hide; or is this just a title that they gave the paper?

Paper, by definition, is a felt-like material made from plant fibres, so, no, it's not actually made from elephant hide.

But elephant poo paper is real paper...

Elephant Dung Paper

I knew they made elephant dung paper in Africa, but I didn't know they are also doing it in Thailand now. I can't comment on the Thai product, but the African paper does not fold well because they leave in too many unbeaten grass stalks.

Handmade Paper carries the Thai version, although I don't know when they started doing so.

I haven't tried either paper myself. Rumour has it that 21x25" sheets of Thai mulberry paper costs less than 50 US cents a sheet in Thailand, so if/when I take a trip there, I'll probably try to procure a few sheets of elephant dung paper too.

I have realized that I have a pack of mulberry paper in my absurdly oversized collection of origami paper.

Isn't that funny when you want a paper and then discover you already have it?