# Aging Paper



## Damian Jay (Oct 3, 2013)

Maybe a little late, but I'll add my tuppence worth as well 

I'm a total newbie at all this aging and building props (although I do build my own illusions)
When I was asked to perform at a huge Dr. Who themed event my brief was everything I did had to tie in with Dr. Who mythology.
I decided to perform a 'colouring book' effect, so I duly made my own book that could appear blank one minute and then filled with text and pictures the next. 
The book had to appear to be over 1000 years old. So I built a wooden front, back and spine to accommodate all the handmade pages. I had no idea how to make the paper look old though.

I sat pondering this while drinking a coffee, and noticed the coffee stain from my mug on my notebook. BINGO! ... So I aged my pages using a very strong black coffee and a rag. It worked great, old pages in just a few minutes. 

The only downside was that my hands were stained by the coffee so I'd advise wearing gloves and my prop STILL smells of coffee 3 years later lol. Although my pages DO crackle nicely when turned which they never did after I'd made them. Maybe coffee and paper get better with age. I guess in another 3 years they may start to disintegrate lol

I have since tried the tea method and like that as well.

Damian


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## fontgeek (Jul 24, 2006)

Try using a stiff hairbrush on the edges of the paper while it's wet with the coffee, tea, etc. This can help you get the ragged/uneven edge that handmade paper typically has.
The paper you choose can also help with the illusion. Using a heavy, gold, parchment style paper to begin with can be a major help too.


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## fontgeek (Jul 24, 2006)

If you want to add further effects to your paper, you might consider dampening the already printed pages, then place them over a sheet of coarse sandpaper, and gently but firmly press or roll (a short bristled paint roller works great for this) your printed page down into/onto the sandpaper. The bumpiness of the sandpaper will cause your printed pages to have a slightly pebbled look and feel, much like hand made paper from days of olde. Make sure your printer uses a waterproof ink, otherwise you will have a runny mess on your hands.


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## Manon (Aug 2, 2011)

Aaaand, if you want to preserve them forever, you can dip them in beeswax.


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## Lord Homicide (May 11, 2012)

Old thread but... is this the look?


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## Pumpkin5 (Aug 8, 2010)

:jol:^Still LOVE that book LordH, so very cool!....I have used acrylic paint diluted with water and sprayed on. So simple and it works great. My books are only few years old....but they smell like old books....not coffee. (but is the coffee smell, really a bad thing??)


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## halstaff (Nov 18, 2009)

Here's a great tutorial done by Shadow of Palms that I've used -


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## Lord Homicide (May 11, 2012)

Good link Steve. That is easier for single sheets. However, since my book was crafted a certain way, dunking it was impossible. I just just plain ol' instant coffee; tea didn't work for me. Mix different ratios then test it out to see what your liking is. I forgot what my "set it and forget it" mix was but, after I brushed it on, I walked away from it. 

You can't really see my leaf edges but they are silvery. I just dry brushed a silver glaze on with a 1" foam bush.


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## Aquayne (Sep 1, 2008)

I got carried away and made a tea from acorns. Put a puddle in a saucer and lay a sheet of paper on it the tea migrated to the edges then dried. It gave a good variation to the look.it took several days to dry .


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## beaver state rich (Jan 25, 2014)

Looks like I'm bringing out the dead with this thread...

RE: printing. For our spell book and some invitations I have created, I used coffee to stain my pages and put the sheets on the counter to dry. Having a couple of hundred pages of paper hanging around your kitchen made it look like an old Chinese laundry. 

Feeding one sheet at a time into my printer is more forgiving than trying to use the automatic feed. For further distressing I use a lighter to burn the edges and add a couple of holes here and there.


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