damping stretch
The alteration in the dimensions of a sheet of
paper when it becomes wet. Since paper fibers
increase more in diameter than in length when
moistened, the dimensions of the sheet will
increase more in the cross direction than in the
machine direction. This is one reason why it is
essential that the "grain" or machine direction of
book papers be parallel to the binding edge of the
book. Handmade papers, when moistened, generally
expand more or less equally in all directions, as
these papers have no definite grain direction. (17 )
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