Being able to melt and re-use plastic not only saves on trash space, it also will save you money by avoiding having to buy what you want to make.
Here is how.
The Materials That You Will Need:
Plastic
Baking pan
Wax Paper
Non stick cooking sprayThe Tools That Will Help You Make It:
Scissors
Oven
Gloves [Heat Resistant]
Now That You Have Your Tools & Supplies Let’s Get Cooking!Grab some old plastic bags, milk jugs, old toys and a mold.
Cut up the plastic into nickel sized pieces.
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
You can also use a Toaster Oven but an oven is more safe since the plastic can go over the mold if you are not careful. Make sure that you are always supervising during this project.
Now that your plastic is cut up and ready to be melted you can put it in a mold or pan to melt it.
Grab what ever you decide to use to melt your plastic in. Line the pan with a sheet of wax paper and spray a light coat of non-stick spray across the sheet.
Place your plastic into the oven. Cook for 30 minutes.
Keep an eye open for signs of burning and adjust the heat as necessary.
The plastic will go soft and malleable as it melts.
Once all of the plastic is melted grab your pan out of the oven and check for gaps and voids in the plastic.
If you want cleaner edges on your plastic, fold the edges of the plastic over on itself.
You’ll need a way to keep pressure on top of the plastic while it cools. Otherwise the plastic will try warp as it cools.
Once your plastic is cooled it can be used for whatever you can think of! You can trim it and make plastic stock for later use, or cut and machine it into anything you come up with.
Melting plastic to make stuff you need is one way of improvising and saving money; even if you never use the knowledge, it is good to know, particularly if you were faced with a massive survival situation where you no longer had access to traditional stores.
As always, when handling very hot items, please use caution and take precautions to ensure your safety.
For more information on melting plastic please visit Instructables.
Featured Image via Instructables
Throw it on a stump and spin it into string
Starts fires real nice.
Beth Lear
Your brother has lots of them in his basement. Lol maybe he’d be willing to let you have a few..
H.D.P.E ( number 2) is the plastic milk jugs, 5 gallon buckets, blue 55 gallon drums and other stuff is made from. You need to heat hdpe to 350 f. Water bottles are generally P.E.T.E. I am currently melting this down in a gasifier setup (400 C) to turn back into oil. Definitely has many survival uses.
Be careful with the fumes. I would do it outside, not in the house. The fumes are toxic and cause cancer or respiratory stress.
I made a wooden stove fueled by plastic just nail three short 2×4′ s together in a u shape and burn bits of plastic inside the woden shape long enough to hold one or two pots