Pour pure acetone over styrofoam and dissolve. Take the remaining goo and fill a mold. Let sit for... a long time to harden. This is the video I chose to follow to create a hard plastic from styrofoam packaging material (ignore the annoying free trial ad thing at the end). We discovered that certain Cheeto Puff looking packaging material with not work. One way to test if the packaging material is biodegradable (cornstarch based) and not true styrofoam stick in it your mouth real quick. The best styrofoam to get its the kind where you can see each individual bead. If you want to color your plastic, add dye directly to the styrofoam before putting the styrofoam into the acetone. Also, if you use nail polish remover, check to see acetone is the only ingredient (usually only the professional grades).
The thinner the substance is stretched, the faster it will harden. Playing with this might give you interesting results. We tried introducing air through a straw to make a bubble with the plastic similar to those cheap grocery store aisle "toys" we played with when we were younger. I wanna know whats in there...
We also lit the chopstick we mixed the plastic with on fire. It held a flame very well and was more controlled of a flame than we thought. Eventually the flame creeped further down the chopstick (since the wood soaked up the acetone) and the plastic began to melt sending little drops of plastic flames to the floor.
You should probably wear gloves or try not to get the solvent (acetone) on your skin and do this in a well ventilated area. However, I just got my nails done today which meant soaking all ten fingers in a bowl of pure acetone to get my previous manicure off. My fingers started burning after about five minutes of soaking sooooooooo just wash your hands as soon as possible after you're pau and should be good :)
Post by Sarah Ing
We also lit the chopstick we mixed the plastic with on fire. It held a flame very well and was more controlled of a flame than we thought. Eventually the flame creeped further down the chopstick (since the wood soaked up the acetone) and the plastic began to melt sending little drops of plastic flames to the floor.
You should probably wear gloves or try not to get the solvent (acetone) on your skin and do this in a well ventilated area. However, I just got my nails done today which meant soaking all ten fingers in a bowl of pure acetone to get my previous manicure off. My fingers started burning after about five minutes of soaking sooooooooo just wash your hands as soon as possible after you're pau and should be good :)
Post by Sarah Ing