Can I melt cellophane to use as a solid plastic in craft projects?
Cellophane seems to be everywhere and when heat is applied, it crinkles and eventually liquefies and cools to a quite firm clear solid. Can this be melted down in a container and used for pouring or dipping to utilize it as a cheap, readily available solid plastic in art/craft projects?
The point behind the question is to reuse/recycle freely available material rather than purchase new craft supplies, however all other material recommendations were appreciated as well.
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sounds like it’ll make alot of plastic fumes, so maybe make sure you do it in a well-ventilated area
I suggest you try it out and see if it works (being prepared with sand etc in case it goes wrong and explodes the container or something)
I agree about the fumes. Why not buy a product called Liquid Laminate. It is sold at Michael’s and Hobby Lobby.
Less fumes to worry about and it is made for crafts.
I don’t think it would work. Melted plastic would solidify rapidly making it really hard to work with. You’d have to keep it on a heat source to maintain it’s liquid state long enough to do anything with it. That means constant plastic fumes. Very unhealthy!
You can get a pourable clear resin at nearly any hardware store. It’s inexpensive, easier to use and much safer than melting plastic.
There are quite a number of types of plastics. When heated to various temperatures, the various types can do different things like melting, or softening a great deal then burning, (or shrinking).
You can check out a number of plastics and some of the things they can do on these pages at my site:
http://glassattic.com/polymer/MISC.htm
(…click on the category called “Melting, Softening or Shrinking Plastics”)
http://glassattic.com/polymer/other_materials.htm
(…there are mostly clear resins on this page, but also click on the “Faux Water”category, and the “Other Castable Plastics” category)
HTH,
Diane B.
Probably not. The funes are bad and aside from that, by the time the cellopane is cool enough to handle without burning yourself it’ll be solid again.
I bought a yard of an item at local fabric store that you press onto fabric with medium iron and it makes the fabric laminated with plastic permanently. It is 20″ wide and cost $10 yard. Have seen it demonstrated on inside of a tote, but have not done it yet.