Paper napkin folding

On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Thin material for paper napkin folding, printing, etc. The oldest known archaeological fragments of the immediate precursor to modern paper date to the 2nd century BCE in China.

The pulp papermaking process is ascribed to Cai Lun, a 2nd-century CE Han court eunuch. It has been said that knowledge of papermaking was passed to the Islamic world after the Battle of Talas in 751 CE when two Chinese papermakers were captured as prisoners. Although the veracity of this story is uncertain, paper started to be made in Samarkand soon after. Before the industrialisation of paper production the most common fibre source was recycled fibres from used textiles, called rags.

The rags were from hemp, linen and cotton. Egypt and other Mediterranean cultures for writing before the introduction of paper. To make pulp from wood, a chemical pulping process separates lignin from cellulose fibre. The microscopic structure of paper: Micrograph of paper autofluorescing under ultraviolet illumination.