Re: How do they dye colored paper?

Jenny, thanks for the question. I’m sorry I took so long to get you an answer.

Dyeing is a pretty complicated process. I answered a general question about dyeing in this answer: Whi ch material absorbs dye the best? I wasn’t able to access the third and fourth links when I tried recently but the first two work.

A big issue with dyeing paper is the desire to have the color be “color fast,” which means that the color will not fade in sunlight or wash off with water. I answered a question regarding the fading of paper in sunlight here.

I had a difficult time finding references that you might have access to in a regular library that could teach you more about dyeing paper. The reference that I will quote in my answer is from a short course presented by the Technical Association of the Pulp and Paper Industry (TAPPI). The specific presentation is credited to Ivo Kool from the 1995 course given in Chicago.

There are a number of ways that paper is dyed, depending on what conditions are used to make the paper and the kind of fibers used. The different types of dyes are discussed in the first link above. Basic dyes are suitable for unbleached and groundwood pulp that is typical of newspapers. The basic dyes bond to the lignin that is present in these papers and work at high pH level (hence the name, basic).

According to the short course notes, direct dyes are used in most dyed papers. They direct dyes were developed for use on cotton but work well on paper fibers. The direct dyes are anionic molecules that attach to the fibers under the proper pH and temperature conditions.

If you want to dye your own paper, I would try a dye designed to dye cotton. You can follow the instructions I gave in this answer. You can dye the fibers before forming the new sheet of paper.

Good luck.