Blotting paper
Blotting paper (including tissue paper or blotting paper , blotting paper or absorbent paper ) is a non-sized and low-pressed paper . Because of this loose structure, it forms fine capillaries that quickly absorb liquids ( e.g. ink ).
history
The blotting paper is already mentioned in the Orbis sensualium pictus (1658) by Johann Amos Comenius , but writing sand (also known as scattering sand) was also used for a long time . In 1827 there is a description of blotting paper in the Brockhaus Konversations-Lexikon .
Blotting paper is particularly popular in schools , since the manufacturers of exercise books add a loosely inserted sheet of blotting paper to almost every exercise book. In offices and government offices are still occasionally blotter roller or extinguishing weighing in use. The task of blotting paper is to absorb excess liquids such as ink or printing ink and to prevent undesired smudging. Due to the increased use of ballpoint pens and roller pens, especially in schools, or the direct use of electronic aids such as personal computers, the use of blotting paper is declining.
The coffee filters in use today were originally made from blotting paper.
Ink eraser and extinguisher
As a result of the invention of blotting paper, so-called "ink erasers" or "ink cradles" became widespread in the second half of the 19th century. They soon counted in high society as representative desk utensils that more and more replaced the previous sand cans.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe , for example, owned a sand can. The brothers Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm also used such cans, which can be seen in an exhibition at the Germanic National Museum alongside exhibits such as the ink eraser of the German Empress Auguste Viktoria . Such ink erasers consisted of a wooden cradle (semicircular shape) over which a blotting paper was stretched. The cover plate could be removed to exchange the blotting paper.
Manufacture and properties
Blotting paper does not contain glue and absorbs the ink via the capillary effect. Since students often write with ink fountain pens, the blotting sheet pressed onto the still wet ink serves to accelerate the drying of the ink and thus prevents smudging of the typeface as well as soiling of hands and clothes. For the production of extinguishing papers bleached fibers are of cotton - linters used. They are particularly durable (lightfast), soft and absorbent, but can only be subjected to low mechanical loads. For less high-quality blotting paper, up to 50% ground wood pulp from poplar or coniferous trees is added. Blotting paper has the property that it can expand when it absorbs moisture. Chlorine-free bleach is used for white blotting paper. Blotting paper is not additionally compressed during production and drying. Due to its highly absorbent properties, blotting paper is suitable for removing wax stains from textiles.
Trivia
The use of blotting paper is discussed controversially: the advantage of avoiding smudging of the ink while it is still wet is offset by the disadvantage that the ink has little time to penetrate deeply into the paper fiber. However, deep penetration of the ink into the paper fiber is an important prerequisite for the durability of the writing. The durability of writing may play a minor role in everyday use of ink, but not where document authenticity or authenticity of documents plays a role (notaries, lawyers, etc.). The immediate deletion of signatures, which is often observed in state acts, can therefore be described as a ritualized bad habit.
literature
- Wisso Weiss: On the history of blotting paper. In: Gutenberg yearbook . 1962, pp. 13-18, OCLC 724840061 .
- Klaus Müller: Inkwell and blotting paper: history and development of a writing fluid. Verlag Müller, Landau, 3rd edition 1999, ISBN 3-933423-21-X .
- Ulrich Jost: Lichtenberg, the letter writer. In: Lichtenberg studies. Volume 5. Wallstein, Göttingen 1993, ISBN 3-892-44011-5 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ blotting paper on Duden.de, accessed November 21, 2013.
- ^ Johann Amos Comenius : Orbis sensualium pictus. The visible world . Nuremberg 1658, chap. XCI, Vers 11 (p. 187) (Latin, German, Wolfenbüttel digital library: facsimile image 207 ).
- ^ Ulrich Jost: Lichtenberg, the letter writer. Lichtenberg Studies Volume 5.
- ↑ General German real encyclopedia for the educated classes ... In: Brockhaus Konversations-Lexikon. Volume 8, p. 238. on google.de, accessed on September 25, 2013.
- ↑ a b blotting paper on materialarchiv.ch, accessed on November 21, 2013.
- ↑ Florian Flaig: Inventions - blotting paper against the coffee grounds. From focus.de on September 13, 2007, accessed on September 25, 2013.
- ↑ Did you know? ... that the first coffee filter was made from a tin can and blotting paper? on melitta.info, accessed on November 21, 2013.
- ↑ Present by the German Empress Auguste Viktoria (PDF; 14.9 MB) on gnm.de, accessed on November 21, 2013.
- ↑ Karolin Küntzel: Why things are the way they are: Answers to 555 questions. P. 150. ( Online ).