Any ideas for artificially aging parchment?

boxstop7

First Post
I'm interested to hear any ideas the community might have on artificially aging parchment paper. I plan on using parchment-style paper for some old maps, letters and scrolls in my upcoming campaign. But some of these items (in particular, the maps) have been sitting in a dungeon for ages. I'm interested in making the paper look and feel "old", making it more brittle, etc. How would I go about doing this? I'm assuming I should write/draw the text/map on the paper before I start any of this. Problem is, I don't know where to go from there. Help, and thanks!

~Box
 
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!

Finally, something I know something about. I've aged paper a bajillion times, because I'm a total dork when it comes to authenticity in my campaigns. I really dig actually handing a player something.

Luckily, most of my players are craftsmen of some sort (I work in print media, one is a carpenter, one a blacksmith, etc.).

As for paper, use the following:

Tea Bags - Using moist tea bags, drag the bags across the paper, getting it damp. It'll also lend the paper a yellow shade, and some brittleness, incresing more and more as you use additional "coats".

Edge Burning - This is probably best to do before you write, unless you can blow out the flames quickly. Simply light an edge aflame, and blow it out before all is consumed. It's best to use a match for this, and you can even drive the flame around by tilting and turning the paper. Remember, things always burn upward.

You can also make a burnt hole in the page by stabbing it with a lit match, and blowing out quickly.

Starch - Get some shirt startch, and dilute it with a good quantity of water (three-four cups). Soak the paper in this, and then let it air dry. Keep in mind, though, the paper WILL break if handled roughly.

And a note, be really careful when using the various liquids, as ink WILL run. It'll make it look more authentic, just make sure things don't get unreadable.

Have fun, most importantly. :D
 


Pencil does not run when dampened.

I usually write it in pencil then go over it with pen and then age. Alternatly you could use a computer print out with a cligraphy font.
 

I've done this quite a bit too, and I have to agree that tea bags look the best. Cheap tea.

I, personally, use the tea/starch combo. I use the tea to color the paper, especially heavy around the edges. After it is thoroughly dry, I starch the crapola out of the edges with a brush to make them brittle, then crack the edges when the starch dries to give the paper that cracked, aged parchment look.
 

While not dead-on topic, I've found that using the packing paper I get out the boxes amazon ships my stuff in looks really good when crumpled up and written/drawn on with charcoal pencils.

My group appreciated it, anyway.
 
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Ah yes most informative. I actually planned on posting the same topic because I am going to do this with my wedding invitations. Thanks to all that posted their techniques. You have made two gamers wedding invites that much cooler.
 

1) crumple, smooth, repeat. If you start with a good weight of paper, you can end up with a delicate almost clothlike consistency with that cute cobwebby look.

2) bake. I THINK lemon juice will help this part, but its been a while. Gives it that yellow old look.

Kahuna Burger
 

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