Today we'll be teaching you how to create your own double tissue origami paper which is perfect to use when making complex models as it's thin but durable enough to withstand heavy folding.
Materials you need for this are:
- Tissue paper sheets
- Methyl cellulose power (this can be purchased from most hardware stores)
- Water
- A flat brush
- A tube longer than the tissue paper
- A non stick surface larger than your tissue paper to work on (I used a large sheet of plexiglass)
- A bottle/container with a lid
First we will need to prepare MC (methyl cellulose) lotion. To make this, add 1 tablespoon of MC powder to 2 cups (or 500ml) of water in a bottle and shake well.
Leave the mixture for a few hours until all of the powder has dissolved.
This mixture can be stored and reused as long as it is sealed and stored in a dry place.
Roll one sheet of tissue paper around a tube for the next step.
If your tissue paper is creased you can do this for a few hours in advanced to help smooth out the wrinkles.
For the first layer, pour some of the MC lotion onto your surfaced brush it out evenly to a size larger than your sheet of tissue paper.
Roll one sheet of tissue paper off the tube over the lotion covered surface, roll the
Use your brush to gently go over any of the air bubbles underneath. The wet paper is easy to tear so do this with caution.
You may still be left with some wrinkles on the paper which adds texture to it.
Apply a layer of lotion on top of the paper using your brush, do not pour the lotion directly on to the paper as this can cause it to break. Once you have brushed over a layer of lotion, roll on another layer of tissue paper on top, smoothing out the air bubbles as before.
You may get see some large air bubbles, if it's not possible to brush them out you can try to lift up the paper from the nearest corner to release the air. If the paper is too fragile to do this, you can brush on another layer of lotion to help smooth it out, although this step is not necessary.
Leave the paper until fully dried. Mine took around 3 hours, but this will vary depending on your room temperature. Once dried, you can begin to gently peel off the paper from one corner.
After failing with other types of origami paper, I was able to use this paper to fold this Shore Crab, designed by Pham Hoang Tuan.