1. Moisture-proof and mildew-proof. We know that Chinese calligraphy and painting paper is highly absorbent and has good ink charm. However, once it gets damp, water stains and mildew spots will appear. Especially the traces of mildew stains cannot be removed after washing and mounting, which directly affects the quality of calligraphy and painting. At the same time, after getting damp, water stains and mildew spots will appear. The paper will also stick to each other, and several pieces of paper will stick together and cannot be peeled off. The way to prevent mildew from dampness is to fold the paper, wrap it tightly with a piece of leather paper, and place it in a dry, cool, and breathable place.
2. Anti-folding. Ripe paper, pink paper, and wax paper have changed their properties due to processing, making them brittle and easy to break. Especially pink paper and wax paper, once wrinkled, will produce a white crack that cannot be repaired. Therefore, when storing and carrying these papers, they can only be rolled or laid flat, and must not be wrinkled.
3. Sun protection. Sunlight contains ultraviolet and infrared rays. When exposed to paper for a long time, the paper will become brittle and yellow, and its quality and lifespan will change. Therefore, the sun protection of paper is as important as moisture resistance and mildew resistance.
4. Prevent beetles. There is an insect called a silverfish, also called a silverfish, which likes to eat the paste or glue in the paper. Over time, the books will be hollowed out. One way to deal with silverfish is to dye paper with a solution of barberry. Cork bark is a traditional Chinese medicine that has the properties of clearing away heat, drying dampness, purging fire, and detoxifying. It also has insecticidal effects. Famous calligraphers such as Wang Xizhi and Wang Xianzhi of the Eastern Jin Dynasty often wrote on yellow paper. The scripture scrolls preserved in Dunhuang stone chambers for more than a thousand years are not damaged or eaten by insects. They are all yellow paper dyed with cork bark solution. The second is to soak it in pepper water and dry it before use. Pepper water can kill insects and prevent paper from being eaten by beetles.
Pepper is Zanthoxylum bungeanum (Sichuan pepper), which is hot in nature and pungent in taste. It can be used medicinally and has analgesic and insecticidal effects. The third is to place strong-smelling substances to drive away silverfish, such as musk, papaya and brassica wrappers. This kind of "Wannian Red" paper is orange-red paper. The orange-red paint on the paper contains lead oxide. Its main component is lead tetroxide, which is toxic. A trace amount can poison silverfish to death. So apply orange-red paint on the paper and dry it in the shade to become beetle-proof paper. In addition, in a general sense, paper and books wrapped in newspapers can also be moth-proof, because the ink also has a certain moth-proof effect.