What chemicals to use to whiten recycled paper

Question

I'm planning of recycling used paper. I first shred the paper into small bits, grind and blend the paper bits into a thick pulp by adding water and color (white dye or something else) and then flatten it with a hot press to produce a recycled paper. I want to add color to the pulp so that the paper I've recycled has a white color. The problem is I don't know what dye or chemical I should use in order to color the paper pulp white. Any suggestions?

EDIT: Please note I would like to prefer a dye or chemical that is environmentally friendly.

Answer 1

There is no white dye that you can add to your wood-pulp slurry to whiten it. Any and all dyes will only make it appear darker.

Bleach is used to whiten paper the same way it is used to whiten your clothes when you wash your laundry.

There are a number of different bleaches made from hydrates and per-chlorates. None of them are "environmentally friendly" and all can be considered toxic and hazardous.

There are also optical "brighteners" and opaque "whiteners" which are ultraviolet fluorescent additives that "glow" to give the effect of "whiter." It's the same stuff used in "Tide" and "All" laundry detergents. The detergents themselves are unsuitable for your project, however, since they will interfere with the paper fibres interlocking when they dry.

Making paper is fun and creative. Choose the lightest materials you can to avoid the need for bleaching. Rather than trying to make white paper, use the natural warm colour of the stock as part of your creative products.