This is a step-by-step hand holding, descriptive, illustrated picture guide to creating your Underground Garden Club member card. 😎 This guide will be a side by side dive into chemistry and material science as you form your bio-plastic. Feel free to skip/read the science dives when there is down time waiting for the plastic to settle or as you stir.

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Time / Scheduling

Start → End: 7 Days (it’s all waiting for drying/evaporation)

Focused Lab Work: 1 Hour

Stage Time/Days Schedule
Stage 1: 3D Mold Printing (Optional) Saturday
Stage 2: Mixing your Bio-Plastic 1-2 hours
Stage 3: Letting your Bio-Plastic Settle ~7 days Saturday → Saturday

Steps

  1. Gather Materials (starch, acetic acid, glycerine) & 3D Mold
  2. Mix
  3. Heat & Stir (Increasing over time)
  4. Boil, then Cool
  5. Transfer Gelatinous Mix to Mold
  6. Wait for Material to Settle

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1. Gather Materials, Equipment, and 3D Mold

Materials

The final polymer that will be settling in our mold is going to be a combination of several molecules: starch, acetic acid, and glycerine. In this guide, we’re going to create these from commonly available items and talk through the chemistry, but these are ingredients available in pure form if you need to save time and buy.