Cotton papers, which are handmade papers, are manufactured by mixing cotton fibers with a large quantity of paper pulp.
A rectangular hand-held mold is used in the process, which is immersed into a vat of water-pulp mixture. The mold is squashed to distribute the pulp equally across the mesh.
As the pulp adheres to the mesh, water drains from the surface and the pulp sheet is moved to a felt sheet for drying. The side to which pulp (paper) adheres to is the wire side, whereas the other side placed on felt for drying is called the felt side.
Even though the impression left by the felt is reduced, wire marks often persist. And that’s why there is a noticeable difference in the texture of the 2 sides of handmade paper.