a papermaking stock and a method for improving the retention of pulp fines , mineral fillers , dispersed wood resin , and / or synthetic hydrophobic stickies and cellulose fibers in a cellulosic fiber sheet , employs dendrimeric polymers for increasing the retention of fines , fillers , dispersed hydrophobic particles , and cellulosic fibers . the application in the paper industry provides a means of increasing the retention of fillers in paper and decreasing the loss of filler materials in white water waste from papermaking ; increasing the retention of cellulosic fines and fibers in the paper - making process ; increasing drainage on the paper machine ; and removing a significant fraction of the wood resin , plastics , and stickies from the process stream thus enabling a greater extent of reuse of filtrates and , hence , less effluents from mills , fewer problems from wood resins such as deposit formation , loss of strength of product , and contamination of product with dirt particles .