Clean-up and storage of unused pulp.

[Seive pulp water before pouring down drain]

When you are finished forming paper pour the pulp water through a sieve down the drain. I use a piece of polyester organdy inside of the seive to catch even more pulp. If you simply pour the pulp water down the drain you may clog your pipes.

Remove the pulp from the seive and squeeze into a ball. Break it up into tiny pieces and put it in the dish pan to dry. It can be reconsititued again at a later date by moistening and putting through the blender.

Seived pulp can be squeezed and used as a mache. Put it into a dish with some white glue (Elmer's type works well). As you mix and mush it, it begins to take on the consistency of a clay-like substance and can be molded similarly to modeling clay. Children love to work with it. If you blend up different colors of construction paper, seive and squeeze out the excess moisture, place each in a sepearte dish and add glue to make a gooey mass, the children (or you) can mold and model the stuff into small sculptures, jewelry, or, yo-yo's (as some third grade boys did in one class I taught). See fancy stuff for more ideas.

Back to blotting and drying.

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