Mohawk Blog

Paper with a Purpose: Recycled Cotton Paper

Words
Mohawk
Photography
Mohawk, MOO
cotton paper

For centuries, cotton textile waste was recycled to make paper. Strong, yet soft, these cotton fibers make beautiful, sustainable paper.

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The basic technique for making paper hasn’t changed much since Chinese inventor Ts'ai Lun (Cai Lun) invented the process nearly 2000 years ago. In an effort to replace more precious silk as a writing surface, Ts'ai formed the very first sheets of paper from macerated plant fibers as well as old cotton rags. This new-found process is widely recognized as the foundation of all modern papermaking (give or take a few improvements). 

Over hundreds of years, other plant fibers were used to make paper pulp, but cotton has withstood the test of time. In fact, a case could be made that cotton is the unifying thread that runs through the long history of papermaking across cultures and centuries.

Hands holding cotton pulp
Recycled Cotton Slurry
Once cotton pulp is broken down into slurry, it's ready to be turned into paper.
sheets of dried cotton pulp in a denim shade
Recycled Cotton Pulp
Made from t-shirt and denim scrap, these pulps remain unbleached and require no dye in the paper­making process.

Cotton fibers are one of the most durable fibers for making paper and are made from "linters" or "rags." Linters are fine fibers left on the seed of a cotton plant after the ginning process, while rag refers to cotton clippings from textile mills.

Mohawk made history in 2017 by teaming up with MOO to give rag and cotton paper a whole new meaning by re-purposing the cotton fibers found in leftover fabric created during the process of making t-shirts into 100% Recycled Cotton Business Cards.

business cards printed on cotton paper
Turning T-shirts into Paper
MOO
A Moo print demonstration using t-shirt cotton paper
Business Cards Made from Leftover T-shirt Fabric
MOO
cotton paper samples clipped on a clothesline
100% Recycled Cotton T-shirt Business Cards
MOO

Our work with MOO allowed us the opportunity to draw from the heritage of papermaking and perfect the art of producing a recycled cotton paper that is as durable as it is beautiful, and as sustainable as it is practical. This partnership paved the way for what just 3 short years later would become Mohawk Renewal Recycled Cotton (Sustainable Collection).

Mohawk Renewal Recycled Cotton uses two sources for its cotton fiber: white t-shirt trim and blue denim thread. Recycled Cotton pulp from Cheney Pulp and Paper Company in Franklin. Ohio is used to make Mohawk Renewal T-Shirt White and Denim papers, giving cotton textile waste a second life. Made from t-shirt and denim scrap diverted from the millions of textile waste sent to landfills every year, these pulps remain unbleached and require no dye in the paper­making process.

rolls of cotton paper in the warehouse in white and denim shades
Reused Cotton
Rolls of Mohawk Renewal Recycled Cotton staged for sheeting at Mohawk.

Creating paper from cotton starts with scraps, specifi­cally textile waste from large clothing manufacturers. Fashion trends often dictate what kind of scraps may be common, Cheney says, but finding bits of denim and T-Shirt isn't difficult. The material arrives in 1,000 pound bales of two-by-three inch clippings, which staffers sort by hand to weed out synthetics making sure everything used is 100 percent cotton. Then, using a combination of heat, water, and time, those scraps are transformed into pulp which becomes paper.

close-up of a sheet of cotton paper in denim
Mohawk Renewal Recycled Cotton
Denim
corners of white and denim cotton paper
Mohawk Renewal Recycled Cotton
Denim and T-Shirt White

Mohawk Renewal Recycled Cotton (Sustainable Collection) breathes new life into a process that was once a centerpiece of the nation's pulp and papermaking industry. Though it's niche now, cotton textile-based paper was widely prevalent; national governments around the world still use it for banknotes and currency, including U.S. dollars. The Mohawk and Cheney collaboration has found a different way to turn cotton textile waste into some­thing of great value. 

“Turning scraps into fine paper with a purpose, and benefit for the planet, is a business model that won't go out of style.”
t-shirts hanging on a rack

With the rise in fast fashion, there's more cotton waste being generated than ever before. Between 1999 and 2009, the global volume of textile trash rose by 40 percent, discards which take 200 years or more — that's as long as both Strathmore and Crane have been around — to decompose and release methane as they sit in landfills. But turning scraps into fine paper with a purpose, and benefit for the planet, is a business model that won't go out of style.

From paper made the same way it was in the 1800s to paper being made from fast fashion scraps today, cotton paper is as archaic as it is innovative.

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Turning T-Shirts into Paper with MOO

Here’s a formula for you. (MOO + Mohawk) + T-Shirts + Papermaking = NEW Cotton Business Cards made from T-Shirt scraps. That’s right; business cards made from the material we all know and love.