Onion skin paper is a lightweight, translucent paper that is strong due to its high percentage of cotton fibers. It is used for airmail, Bibles, and other situations where lightweight, strong paper is needed. It is also used for duplicates, carbon copies, and records of official correspondence. The finish is usually crinkled, and it can be used for artistic tracing and as an interleaving material in color plate books. It is available in various sizes and is ideal for situations where large quantities of records are generated.
Onion skin paper is a very light, almost translucent type of paper that somewhat resembles the outer skins of an onion. It is also relatively strong due to its light weight, as it usually contains a high percentage of cotton fibers, which make the paper more resistant. There are numerous practical applications for this paper, including airmail items, Bibles, and other situations where lightweight, strong paper is needed. Along with other specialty papers, it is available at paper supply stores and companies in various sizes to meet different needs.
The weight of onion peel paper is very light; a stack of 500 bond-size sheets weighs approximately 9 pounds (4 kilograms), depending on the manufacturer. The size of the bond is 17 inches by 22 inches (43 by 56 centimeters), which means it’s twice the size of a standard-sized sheet. The light weight of onion skin paper makes it ideal for situations where large quantities of records are generated, but still need to be kept manageable. For this reason it is also often used to make duplicates, carbon copies and records of official correspondence. Although the official version can be sent on plain paper, the records are kept compact on this special paper.
The finish of onion skin paper is usually crinkled, meaning it was air dried as it was being prepared. Crepe paper has a slightly wavy, handmade feel, along with a slightly crinkled finish. This property causes the paper to often crackle when handled, as the sheets are not flat against each other. It also prevents the sheets from sticking to each other or to other surfaces, a common problem with very light papers.
While onion skin paper and tracing paper aren’t technically the same, this paper can be used for artistic tracing. It can also be used as an interleaving material in color plate books that may become damaged. Even entire books are printed on onion skin paper when they have a lot of material that would otherwise make them very bulky. When handling large onion skin text, such as some versions of the Bible or the Oxford English Dictionary, readers should be aware that larger pages are more prone to tearing when handled roughly than other documents, therefore they should not be rushed, even when an etymological argument is vital.
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