Paper is made of tiny fibers. Most come from trees. At the mill, workers take the bark off the logs. Then the wood is cut into small chips.

The chips are cooked with water and other things. They get soft. This soft, wet mix of fibers is called pulp.

Pulp can be bleached. That makes it lighter and whiter. White paper is made from bleached pulp.

Mills mix in chalk or clay. These make paper whiter. They help print on one side not show through.

A paper machine has a moving belt. It is made of fine net. Wet pulp is poured on it. The water drains away.

Next the wet sheet is squeezed. Then it is dried with heat. A big machine can have 40 to 70 hot drums that dry the paper.

The paper comes out as a long sheet. It is wound onto huge rolls.

Long ago in Egypt, people wrote on papyrus. It was made from a tall reed plant. Later, paper was often made from old cloth rags.

Where there are few forests, people use straw too. Money is often printed on paper made of cotton and linen.

Cardboard is made of three layers of thick paper. The two outside layers are flat. Between them is a wavy layer.

Old paper can be made into new paper. This is called recycling. Tissues and napkins are often made with recycled paper, as of November 2026.

Words to know

• pulp: soft wet mix
• bleached: made whiter
• papyrus: old reed paper
• recycling: using again