Methylcellulose cheap alternatives

General discussion area for learning about paper, and the different types available.
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Origami_Hunt
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Rice flour - Noboru Miyajima's bat

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I folded Noboru Mijayima's bat using bleeding double tissue paper treated with rice paste:

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PVA revisited

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My initial experience with PVA was poor. The paper was strong, but it had a plastic character that made the folds unfold. Since then, I have realized that diluting PVA eliminates the problem. The dilution depends on the brand of PVA and the requirements of the model you want to fold. This is also the case with all sizing agents, including methylcellulose.

I have folded a simplified version of Sipho Mabona's elephant using diluted PVA and white double-tissue (30 cm) colored yellow with turmeric from the supermarket:
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Conclusion: PVA is useful if you dilute it enough.

Index of sizing agents
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Carboxymethylcellulose

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Where to find it

In craft stores; in Thailand in Multifilla. CMC is also used as a food additive that goes by the name of Tylose powder. You can find it in Amazon. It costs £6 per 100 g. MC costs around £7 per 100 grams.

How to dissolve CMC in water

The solid should be added to the water; adding water to the solid forms clumps that are difficult to dissolve. The CMC powder should be well dispersed in water, preferably not adding all in one go. Stir gently or shake intermittently; do not stir constantly. High heat is not needed and may actually slow down the solubilization process. When temperature increases the viscosity will go down accordingly. So when is cooled the viscosity of the carboxymethyl cellulose solution will increase. But the viscosity will decrease irreversibly and permanently when the temperature goes up to a certain point.

You can follow this advice from this technical note:

"When carboxymethyl cellulose is dissolved it will expand first then dissolve slightly. So only by mixed fully and make each particle wet quickly can the dissolution be done swiftly. Otherwise, the expansion will make the particles gather to form groups or films, which will make them difficult to disperse ".

Facts to keep in mind

The solubility depends on the type of CMC but generally is about 10 g per liter.
CMC is more sensitive to humidity than MC.
Some people have reported that CMC solutions split into two phases, although shaking before using it makes it useful. Some people have reported that they hay this problem while using a 2% solution, but no when using a 7% solution, although in this case, it seems that the solubility limit was exceeded.

List of sizing agents
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Wheat flour - Anibal Voyer's Witch

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I have folded Anibal Voyer's Witch using double-tissue treated with wheat flour. 40 cm square.

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Learn how paper is treated

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Sizing paper







Strengthening paper

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Liquid egg-whites

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It works, although I prefer egg-whites powder.

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The brown elephant is made using double tissue treated with custard (not recommended) and the orange one with double tissue treated with egg-whites.

How to use it

Apply it to the surface
Tissue
Tissue
Apply it to the top sheet

Apply it to in between the sheets if you need stiffer paper.

Where to buy it

From the supermarket

Image

List of sizing agents
Last edited by Origami_Hunt on April 9th, 2021, 6:36 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Custard - Just for fun

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Custards have thickening agents such as starches that are useful to treat paper. This particular brand has these useful agents:
Skimmed milk (proteins) and modified maize starch.

It also contains sugars, but these are bad because they increase the sensitivity of the paper to humidity and make it easy to tear when dry. It also contains ingredients such as fats.

The double-tissue paper that I produced was useful to fold the elephant, but it was thick and it would not be suitable for complex models.
It was just a fun project. I do not recommend this to treat paper, although it could be useful in some cases.

I folded the brown elephant using double-tissue paper treated with custard.

Image


List of sizing agents
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