Tea bag paper! Yup you read correctly, tea bag paper. It is my new favourite paper and that's saying something as I am somewhat of a connoisseur when it comes to paper. It is exactly the same stuff that tea bags are made from which is why it's so great!
It's light weight and strong and it's these attributes that make it so versatile. The paper I have been using is unperforated but other wise the same as that used in tea bag making before it's cut into tiny squares!
I had seen a couple of people online using actual tea bags for various craft projects and decided to investigate. It turns out tea bag paper is not very easy to come by so I seized the initiative and bought myself some in bulk. I don't think I really thought this through!
I am intending to use it for cyanotype making as a down side in making cyanotypes can be the disintegration or tearing of your paper when it comes to rinsing and fixing the image. I also like the fact that the strength of the teabag paper allows it to be hand stitched so I can play with all sorts of ideas down that road.
I have already trialled it briefly in some wood engraving prints and it's a great alternative to the more delicate and more expensive oriental papers. You can see my instagram post on it here.
I thought as I try out the paper over the next few weeks in various experiments and projects I will share how I have done them and what my findings are. Should you wish to try any out for yourselves and would like some tea bag paper I have lots! I am going to sell 1m lengths in my shop. The dimensions are 28cm by 1m and if you would like more than one metre in tact just drop me a line and I can sort that out for you!
Here it is in my shop.
If you have used tea bag paper before please let me know what you did with it, I'm looking for ideas!