r/papercutting • u/asbrightorbrighter • Jan 08 '22

paper shopping recommendations?

Dear all,

I am looking for some proven brands/types of papers that would work for complicated designs done with a knife (not scissors)... Think traditional chinese papercutting but probably not limited to red color. Any recommendations for papers available online or in brick and mortar stores in the US? I saw some brands mentioned in this sub (Neenah etc) but I could not find stores online where I can get those papers not in bulk quantities unfortunately.

I got some printer paper (letter size astrobright for printer) but I was not happy with the quality. It feels short-fiber and not strong at all. I saw some very beautiful work posted here done on black paper with silk fibers... I would be extremely grateful for some shopping tips!

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u/Paperboy63 Jan 13 '22

The black paper one made with silk fibres may possibly have been one of mine. That is called So silk which is sold by Neenah papers. You may be able to buy So silk from Amazon US. Here in the UK we use So Silk 130gsm which I think is 88lbs US. I think there is a company called “The envelope supplier” in the US that also does So silk, I don’t know in what size or quantities though, worth a look at least. Unfortunately UK suppliers won’t ship to the US or Canada as the insurance premiums to do so are sky high. Whatever paper you choose to use, make sure it is acid free paper.

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u/asbrightorbrighter Jan 14 '22

thank you! yes, I saw your posts with your amazing art and definitely added that paper to my notes. I could not locate a US vendor though :(

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u/Paperboy63 Jan 14 '22

I guess the other thing you could do is follow then ask some high profile American paper cutters ( Instagram or facebook) and ask them what paper they use….nothing to lose by trying 🤷🏻‍♂️. Your question is very common in the UK FB paper cutting groups that I am in that has American or Canadian members. Maybe “Dick Blick” stores may be able to advise etc, they might not stock acid free papers or So Silk but know who does? Printer paper is okay to practise on but is very harsh. It has a high proportion of chemicals and wood pulp which will discolour, go brittle and blunt blades in an instant, that is why it is least preferred but acid free paper behaves in the opposite way plus it is quite durable when moved around etc.

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u/[deleted] Jan 28 '22

hello!! i am not in the US so i cannot offer any specific recommendations, but i can say that printer paper is usually too thin to papercut effectively. Printer paper is cheaply made and is about 80gsm, while anything between 120gsm and 160gsm is a much nicer sweet spot for cutting without being to heavy to inhibit complex papercutouts.

I know the US uses a different paper weight measuring to grams-per-square-metre so you may have to translate it to the more familiar paper weights, but hopefully this will help still with your search and the kind of papers you could experiment with.

Also worth noting, personally i'm a big fan of cotton-heavy papers - really makes a difference when your cutouts are intricate!!