Paper and Printing Recipes / A Handy Volume of Practical Recipes, Concerning the Every-Day Business of Stationers, Printers, Binders, and the Kindred Trades

by John Sawtelle Ford

A Varnish for Making Paper Transparent.

A varnish formed of Canada balsam, dissolved in turpentine, supplies a most valuable means of making paper transparent. The mode by which this is most satisfactorily accomplished is by applying a pretty thin coating of this varnish to the paper, so as to permeate it thoroughly, after which it is to be coated on both sides with a much thicker sample. The paper is kept warm by performing the operation before a hot fire, and a third, or even a fourth, coating may be applied, until the texture of the paper is seen to merge into a homogeneous translucency. Paper prepared according to this process is said to come nearer than any other to the highest standard of perfection in transparent paper. Care must be used in making, as the materials are highly inflammable.