Cob: Re: Chinese lime plaster-ideas

[Charmaine R Taylor]

Hi Darel, the book this recipe came from is from the 1970s, and the man
was writing what people showed him in China in their homes.so I am
guessing that all the paper was eaither local newspaper or rice
paper/hemp paper based materials...in any case it does not matter to the
NON purist, because the point is to use what yiu have. ( they prpbably
did NOT have office paper in rural China., at least not the bleached
stuff we have.

I found the modern cross shredded office papers worlked fine, even
colored paper bits were in the mix and faded out so it is hard to see
them in the barrel.

I used office paper, but have not tried hemp papers or cotton papers or
even newspapers..which each may produce a slightly different result. The
newspspepr wlil be much greyer, which I did not want. after the walls
are completed I will limewash them...this has been an experiment to see
if I could diverge from the norm and achieve a textured wall without
spending any money.

I think the mix could also be used in a dryer form as a sculpting
material...just let drain/dry longer before shaping. I made a very very
lightweight ( like popcorn) heart shape ( used a cookie cutter for the
mold) it is a 2" tall lime:paper mix...it is great, and gave me the
further idea to make PREMADE sculpted items..like symbols, zodiac signs,
florals, etc, and then once dry you can embed them in fresh lime
plaster...so you get a raised relief design...good for decorative work.

I;d love to have time to make sea creatures of this lime: paper, and put
them on the walls in the bath....just need 24 more hours in my day!

Ms. Charmaine Taylor/ Taylor Publishing
http://www.dirtcheapbuilder.com
http://www.papercrete.com
PO Box 375, Eureka CA 95534
books at dirtcheapbuilder.com
707-441-1632

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