THE SECRETS OF DÓ PAPER

General discussion area for learning about paper, and the different types available.
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mrhoangtuanori
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Joined: May 6th, 2019, 3:19 am

THE SECRETS OF DÓ PAPER

Post by mrhoangtuanori »

THE SECRETS OF DÓ PAPER

I received many questions about the types of Dó paper applied in Origami and the details of each type. Besides, how to process and fold the paper in the most effective way.
So, in this article, I will give you the most detailed information about Dó papers that are used in origami and some tips (which I-myself used to use as a laboratory mouse) to take the best advantages from this kind of paper.

I. WHAT IS "DÓ" ?
- Dó paper  is a paper made from the inner bark of the Dó tree and traditionally produced in many villages in Vietnam. It plays an important role in folk art, Dong Ho Painting in particular, because of its durability.
- Do tree ( scientific name: Rhamnoneuron balansae) grows mainly in the northern mountainous areas of Vietnam. This is the type of plant in which its bark contains up to 93% cellulose, resulting in extremely high toughness and durability.
- This is a kind of paper used for traditional production of books and flying latterns.

II. HOW MANY KINDS OF DÓ PAPER?
- There are many ways to classify these Dó papers, in this article I will divide them by 2 ways that I used.

1. CLASSIFICATION OF THICKNESS
- According to the thickness, the paper is divided into 3 main categories:
+ Dó Bóc 1 ("Bóc" means the thickness of the paper, the larger the Bóc is, the thicker the paper, in short: B1). This B1 is the thinnest of all kinds of Dó paper. It was used in making notebooks, painting, and in Origami it is used to fold tiny models, insect models.
+ Dó Bóc 2 (B2): B2 is the most popular Dó paper in the Vietnam Origami societ. It can be used to fold animals, objects, insects and even extremely complicated models by Nguyen Hung Cuong or Hoang Tien Quyet.
+ Dó Bóc 3 (B3) B3 is the thickest Dó in the papers used to fold origami. This type is in high thickness, from 80 GSM and is mainly used in wet folding.

2. CLASSIFICATION BY PATTERN.
- Classifying according to the pattern, the present Dó papers have 4 main types of pattern. These types are usually B2 or B1:
+ Plain colored paper - including B1 and b2. These are two types of non-textured, plain and popular paper. This type of paper also has a specific kind with a waterproofing layer to prevent color absorbent between the two sides.
Like this Lion Fish By Rober Lang: https://flic.kr/p/nVzwhd
+ Fibre Dó (Unryu Do) - this is the type of paper used and developed by me. Fibre Dó is a kind of white fibre bark paper, soft and light, when it is coloured, it has such delicate and thin patterns of fibre on each layer of the paper.
Like this insect by Shuki Kato: https://flic.kr/p/qDMMcK
+ Hotudo Marble Dó, this is also a paper developed by me. The original kind is from thin and light Dó papers with thick white veins. When colored, the thick veins will be removed, revealing beautiful, delicate pattern between light and dark. The paper is thinly stretched, creating an eye-catching, vivid, like the pattern of granite.
Like this deer: https://flic.kr/p/F3pc3H

III. HOW TO MAKE AN UNFOLDABLE DÓ INTO A WELL-KNOW KIND OF ORIGAMI PAPER.

- Dó is processed to fold, there are many ways but the 2 most popular ways that I will mention here are 2 ways I like the most. It is treatment with milk glue (or MC) and treatment directly with acrylic color.

1. TREATMENT BY GLUE MIXTURE.

- Milk glue ( Or MC glue) will be diluted with water + acrylic at a certain ratio and painted onto the Dó paper.
- This mixture will make the paper tougher and more easy to make crease lines.
- The rate used to dilute this glue is usually 1-3 (1 glue - 3 water) to 1-5.
- When painting the paper with glue, the cellulose fibers fall out, not strong, so artisans must be extremely careful so that the paper does not melt or tear.
See this process: https://flic.kr/p/Hhwtkr
- After processing, paper will be dried one day. Then, thinly rolled, followed by ỉoned under extreme heat to be flattened. (This is a very good heat-resistant paper so you can comfortably use the iron at a temperature of 100 ° C to 150 ° C. There are a number of fold samples, to keep the crease better, you can use the temperature. Like a dryer or an iron to directly impact the folding layer. Dryers and irons in origami is very common in Vietnam, especially in the South, using the temperature when folding also make glue dry faster, especially in wet, humid days).

2. DIRECT TREATMENT WITH ACRYLIC.
- The second way to process it is to treat directly with acrylic color. The paper is directly painted with a diluted acrylic color (no glue).
- The advantage of this way is that the paper will be well colored, it will look better. The paper veins are much raised, and it also will be thinner.
- The disadvantage is that this treatment is extremely difficult to handle because this is a diluted acrylic color, very liquid that can cause paper to disintegrate if not careful.
- When painting this solution on paper, you must be extremely careful . Each area on the paper is painted only once. If you paint for the second time or during the process of painting you sweat down on the paper, the double wet areas will disintegrate.
-Paper after being painted acrylic color solution will be left to dry directly on the processing table. About 1 hour after drying, the paper will be picked up and dried in a place without wind.
-The paper after drying will be ironed.

* These are the two most general processes. I will have a detailed article on paper handling later.

IV. HOW TO PROTECT THIS SENSITIVE PAPER .
- Many friends tell me to buy a lot of Dó papers but don't know how to protect them? Because Dó paper is basically a type of absorbing paper. Thai Unryu, Hanji, Washi are all types of absorbing papers too.
- Absorbent paper is a kind of paper from the bark that is finely crushed and bonded together with cellulose. It is absorbent, so when the environment is high in humidity, the paper will be very soft and when, it has to be heated, for the folds to last for a long time.
-So, protecting Dó is a very important thing in origami:
1. After buying them, they should be put in a glass case or in a plastic bag. If possible, you can add to the desiccant bags (my experience is best to use O'buster) or vacuum.
2. Do not leave the paper in direct contact with water because the paper will disintegrate.
3. Do not leave the paper under direct sunlight for too long because the paper will fade, dry and very brittle.
4. Do not leave the paper in a foul place because it is extremely easy to catch the smelling. If you do not want to use a paper with an unpleasant smell.

V. HOW TO FOLD DÓ PAPER WITH ALL ITS ADVANTAGES.
- It may sounds funny but the paper is best to fold on days without rain. Because when the heat is high, the air humidity is low, the paper will keep the folding crease easily.
- When folding Dó, you can easily create and handle difficult steps without using any support tools.
- When shaping the sample in the shaping steps, you can easily bend the folds by hand because Dó paper holds the curvature very well.
- When you reach some thick details, you can use a little water to wet the area you want to make the paper softer, more flexible, when it is dries, it will keep the form . I have also used this method in Thai Unryu paper, Hanji paper and all are well applied. (In this solution, you can add a bit of glue at the rate of 1-10).
- When folding patterned Dó you must pay attention to the creased lines you have created. Because these lines are easily mixed into the patterns of Dó paper.
- Choose Dó carefully for folding samples. For example, simple folding patterns, you can choose either b2 or B3, not B1 because this type is very thin. For insect samples or samples with thickness, you should choose B1 or B2 paper.
- Here are some folding samples of mine and some of my friends fold with Do paper:
+ https://flic.kr/p/FMdchb
+ https://flic.kr/p/w3JpXV
+ https://flic.kr/p/o1nGMN
+ https://flic.kr/p/nXoNzA
+ https://flic.kr/p/nDcGg8
+ https://flic.kr/p/nVzwhd
+ https://flic.kr/p/F3pc3H
- You can see more details and pictures about DÓ paper here: https://etsy.me/2WrpCbf
FoldSkate
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Posts: 75
Joined: September 22nd, 2012, 12:08 am

Re: THE SECRETS OF DÓ PAPER

Post by FoldSkate »

I finally recieved my do paper thank you very much. Just so everyone knows this paper feels amazing so far. i got the b2 type, and tried to treat it with MC. I treated one side and it seemed like my MC was a little too thick to stick to the glass, but this paper is so amazingly strong i was able to lift up the wet sheet, and lay it down flat on the other side!! I then was able to brush out every single wrinkle by holding up 1 corner at a time. If i tried this with my normal double tissue i usually use the paper would surely rip almost instantly. So far I am very impressed.
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