Cigarette paper is not a paper like the others. Its weight varies from 12 to 25 g/m² in order to be able to garnish it with tobacco and roll it easily. But how is cigarette paper made? Let’s take a look in this article.
Everything you need to know about cigarette paper
Cigarette paper or rolling paper was made from flax and hemp fibers, but also scraps of veils or military fatigues. From the start, it was necessary to create specific machines and very quickly, industrial models replaced stones and sandblasters.
Many stories come to tell the manufacturing method of yesteryear. The best known is surely that of Jean Bardou who, in 1838, wrote a tutorial with removable sheets of rolling paper. In 1842, he filed a patent and launched his famous JOB brand.
Making cigarette paper like the good old days
After sorting and tearing the fabric to shreds, it was leached out in hot steam. This pile of laundry then passed under a heavy cylinder to crush and cut it. The “waste” was collected in a small channel (buttons, nails, coins, etc.) and the rest of the laundry continued to be kneaded and then washed in clear water. The role of the washing drum was then to obtain the final defibration. It was only then that the pastry press came into play, allowing the fabric to look like moist, yellow cakes about a centimeter thick. The pulp was then ready to be bleached.
Several chemicals are added to the resulting pulp to whiten it. Then comes the refining stage requiring the intervention of cylinders and tanks. The paste was then sent to the vat room to be mixed before landing in the hourglass to evacuate the remaining impurities. Then it’s time to move on to the purifier. The pulp obtained is then ready to go through the paper machine.
After being crushed and vacuumed, the sheet of cigarette paper was calibrated then rolled up before being packaged.
