I finally made watercolor paper!

The original version of my paper was made only from recycled white paper and tap water.

It was super absorbent, soft, and textured — great for dry media, but not for watercolor. Gouache or acrylic could still be used, but only with very little water.

I wanted to make my paper more versatile — something that could handle a wider range of media like watercolor and fountain pen ink.

So, I started researching, sourcing ingredients, and experimenting to find a solution.

The answer was sizing. Sizing makes paper less absorbent and more water-resistant.

Common sizing agents and what I tried

Some common sizing agents include gelatin, wheat starch, and alkyl ketene dimer (AKD).

Gelatin

Gelatin is the most accessible but spoils easily and must be applied after the paper is dry (external sizing). Imagining myself brushing gelatin on each sheet one by one… 😅 So, I skipped this method.

Wheat starch

Wheat starch is another accessible option. Once cooked, it has a glue-like texture. I mixed it directly into my paper vat (internal sizing). It made my paper stronger — which helps with binding — but didn’t noticeably improve water resistance. It also needs cooking and has a short shelf life.

Paper with wheat sizing — *Above: Tested with gouache and acrylic, ranging from no water, little water, and lots of water added. Visible bleeding on the back side.*

AKD (alkyl ketene dimer)

AKD is a waxy compound made from plant-based fatty acids that helps paper resist water. It’s a concentrated internal sizing liquid I ordered from a papermaking supplier.

I had put off trying AKD for a long time, thinking I could keep tweaking the wheat starch method (because it’s cheaper). But when I finally tested AKD, I was blown away. It worked!

Paper with akd — *Above: Tested with gouache (lots of water added), a drip pen with black ink, and coffee extract. No bleeding at all on the back side!*

It was one of those “Wow!! I should’ve tried this ages ago!” moments. Now I see why so many papermakers use it.

A tradeoff?

I found that paper sized with AKD isn’t as strong as paper sized with wheat starch.
For wet media, it performs beautifully — but for bookbinding, it feels as delicate as unsized paper.

Of course, I want my paper to be both strong and water-resistant.

So my next experiment is to try combining the two sizing methods. I’m not sure yet if it’ll help or hurt, and even ChatGPT gave me mixed signals 😆

Stay tuned for more papermaking updates as I do more experiments.