Austria stamp made from recycled shirt 👕 cloth.

Austria stamp made from recycled shirt 👕 cloth.


Description
Old uniform shirts were also recycled for this commemorative stamp by turning them into rag paper. This paper is made from textile waste or "rag paper", i.e., old clothes. The rag paper for the "Österreichische Post staff shirt" stamps was made according to a centuries-old tradition in a Lower Austrian paper mill, which is the last of its kind in Austria.

For this purpose, old shirts were shredded, mixed with water, and ground. The pulpy "paper pulp" was then scooped by hand with sieves, the paper laid on felt and the water pressed out. Finally, the stamps were printed on the resulting sheets of rag paper. The blue fibres of the shirts are still clearly visible in the paper. These stamps also stand out for their traditional punched perforation, which is usually not possible with this material.