Frequently Asked Questions

He’s a Zouave, a soldier from a special infantry regiment. He’s supposedly the soldier who first had the ingenious idea of rolling his tobacco in the paper of his gun’s powder bag. That’s how the world’s first cigarette was invented, and why the Zouave was chosen for the logo of the brand.

Some of the ZIG-ZAG papers are what is called “laid paper”. Traditionally, paper was marked this way when they were handmade. A square mesh strainer (a wire screen in a wooden frame) was immersed in a vat filled with water and pulp to form the sheets and de-water the stock. During the process the wire left its mark on the paper. 

Today, this traditional pattern is mechanically marked onto high quality papers while the sheet is being formed by the paper machine.

The first factory opened in 1879, however the ZIG-ZAG brand was established in 1894, and won a gold medal at the Universal Exposition in Paris in 1900.

It’s difficult to say exactly, because so many people claim to have invented rolling paper. However, a popular anecdote says it was invented by a Zouave soldier during a battle, whose pipe had been broken by a flying bullet. He was the first to think of rolling his tobacco in the paper of his gun’s powder bag. That’s how the first cigarette in the world came to be. That’s why the Zouave’s now famous face was chosen for the logo of ZIG-ZAG’s famous cigarette papers, which do not alter the flavour of the tobacco.

Source: The rich history of rolling paper: Angoulême Paper Museum.

It’s called ZIG-ZAG after the Z shape of the leaves, which are folded in two and interleaved, using the process invented by the Braunstein brothers, the founders of ZIG-ZAG. This process enables the following leaf to come up when you pull one out to roll it.

ZIG-ZAG papers are made on the banks of Lake Leman with pure water from Evian.
ZIG-ZAG offers you a wide range of booklets and paper which can be made from various different materials and special combinations.
Each ZIG-ZAG paper is specially developed to give the characteristics sought after by different smokers (porosity, combustibility, solidity, whiteness, opacity or transparency, fibre composition…). 
Therefore, according to the characteristics required, the papers can be made from linen, hemp or cellulose from carefully used forest resources.
The pulp derived is bleached only with techniques that do not involve elementary chlorine particles. 

ZIG-ZAG are therefore 100 % natural, with an added strip of gum Arabic, which is also 100 % natural and comes from African acacias.

ZIG-ZAG papers are developed to appeal to the smoker’s five senses: they preserve the flavour of the tobacco; release pleasant aromas and scents; feel good to the touch and produce a soft sound when rolling; make a beautiful cigarette that is pleasant to smoke.

It’s a very complex paper which requires the finest materials and great technical expertise to obtain each smoker’s favourite characteristics: porosity, combustibility, solidity, whiteness, opacity and transparency, fibre composition…

Rolling paper is very thin, must stay pure and contain no optical brightening agents. Furthermore, ZIG-ZAG is committed to observing the strictest regulations in this area (German D.T.V.O.), whatever the country.

Everyday printing and writing paper are mainly designed for visual use. They are thicker, have a high mineral charge and a very close weave, to give a white, smooth surface for printing.

There are two main lengths of fibres used in paper manufacture: long and short. 
The long fibres form the weave of the paper, which makes it tough. A longer fibre structure makes it more porous.
Short fibres contribute to a smoother and more close-woven paper surface, which is more airtight.

It’s more than a hundred years of know-how in combining both that give ZIG-ZAG papers excellent resistance for rolling, and unrivalled smoking qualities.

It depends on the booklet and paper size. Some booklets have 100 leaves, others have 32. The double ZIG-ZAG 601 Bis booklet contains 100 36×69 leaves. That’s nearly 4 sheets of A4 paper or a 7 metre-long cigarette.

The weight of a leaf is measured in grams per square metre (g/m²). ZIG-ZAG offers a wide range of papers, the heaviest weighing 27 g/m² and the lightest 14 g/m2. Compared to a classic sheet of writing paper of 80 g/m², that’s about 3 to 6 times lighter. The total weight of one leaf of ZIG-ZAG Slim Silver is approximately 0.06 grams !

As the papers are generally very fine, their thickness is measured in microns. (There are a thousand microns in a millimetre). The different ZIG-ZAG papers vary from 20 to 40 microns! That’s up to 5 times thinner than a sheet of standard A4 copy paper.
But beware of jumping to conclusions, as thickness does not determine weight. A more loosely woven paper will be thick but not necessarily heavier than a very thin, compact paper. The same goes for transparency, which does not necessarily determine thickness or weight.

Cigarette papers and gum are very sensitive to humidity. We suggest you keep your papers in a dry place.

The ZIG-ZAG workshops have a controlled and constant atmosphere. There are many quality checks carried all the way throughout production, from raw material to the finished product, which leaves the factory perfectly protected in its packaging.

We seek for your full satisfaction and would be happy to be informed of your observations. Write to us using the contact form.

Most ZIG-ZAG booklets have bookmarks at the bottom of the pack, which indicate the number of papers left in the booklet (a small piece of printed, coloured paper). However, this shows the number of papers remaining – if you count the one you have just taken out, that makes one more.