Bio • Laminate
This recipe is a workhorse in my material cookbook. BioLaminate is a mid-weight bioplastics (not rigid but not as flimsy as a film) and is ideally suited for a wide range of uses. It tends not to shrink dramatically, warp while drying, or mold – all of which are not a given when working with bioplastics.
Ingredients
Metric
- 6.0 g gelatin
- 360 mL 1% glycerol
- 120 mL water
Imperial
- 2 tsp gelatin
- 1.5 cups 1% glycerol
- 0.5 cup water
Equipment
- nonstick pan
- silicone sheet
Preparation
- Add gelatin to 1% glycerol solution and stir until well-mixed. Add water and allow gelatin to bloom before adding to heat.
- Heat mixture to just below boiling. Scoop off any foam that forms with a spoon.
- Pour into mold or cast into a sheet.
This recipe is great for adding colorants, fillers, or inclusions; as you can see in the hero image I like to add in decorative stamen from old flowers. If you add fillers such as coffee grinds you can get the texture closer to a leather or you can use the base recipe to create a clear sheet that most people wouldn't know isn't petroleum-based plastic.
This recipe is also good for thermoforming since it is thermoplastic! You could either put this on a full-blown thermoforming machine and mold it to a form or you can use a sandwich bag sealer to create clean, strong edge seals.
Tips & Tricks
This mixture has a tendency to develop foam on the surface while it is heating. If this happens, simply skim it off the surface with a spoon. If there are still bubbles on the surface when you pour the mixture, you can run a propane torch lightly across the surface of your mixture while in the mold. This should pop any bubbles and leave you with a flat, glassy surface.
