Cottonized Flax Fiber

$12.00 per pound

This is quality flax from Belgium and is in fiber form. It has gone through the process of cottonization which removes the lignins and pectins from the fiber through a steaming process, in order to prepare them for spinning with cotton thread. For us papermakers, this means that the fiber does not need to be cooked. Paper made from this flax is beautiful, strong, and archival. 

Fiber must be beaten in a Hollander beater, and it's tricky at first, requiring a bit of patience, as the fiber wants to clump and jam the beater. We recommend feeding the fiber into the beater slowly but keeping the roll very close to the bedplate so that the beating action happens quickly.  Once the fiber circulates, beating time for sheet formation is about 1.5 hours.