Having planted 2 banana trees a few years ago we’ve cut one down and harvested the fibres, as there are others now growing.
The tree was split into 3; the inner trunk fibre, outer trunk fibre and the leaves/fronds. These were cooked in a large copper at a recent Primrose Paper Arts day and later pulped at home. Then a couple of weeks ago, back at the paper studio, I formed some A4 paper combining the fibre from the inner trunk and some recycled cotton-rag print paper offcuts.
The sheets have come out a lovely flecked off-white, with one smooth and one rougher side.
TactualTextiles 