Testing Plastic

I'm a hoarder.  A hoarder of shrink plastic.  I come across a batch of good plastic, I buy all that I can of it.  A mother lode is worth every penny, so save them up for when you come across it.  What exactly is good shrink plastic?  Good shrink plastic has many connotations; good color reproduction, nice surface, nice edges, good stiffness, good thickness, relatively even shrink (lays back down flat, shrinks evenly top to bottom and side to side.  In today's plastic, these qualities are a rarity and are not come by often.

Because I have been making shrink plastic jewelry for so long, I have a ton of the older vintage stuff.  Cases of it in fact, and no, I'm not interested in selling it.  I have had people ask and because I use it, I sadly have to say no to them.  However, that does not mean that you don't sometimes come across plastic that is really good.  It's out there, but only by chance.

Most plastic made today is labeled with a lot#  for easy identification.  It didn't used to be that way though.  It was always a crap-shoot and the best you could do is buy bulk from the same supplier at the same time in order to get all of a good batch.

I seek perfection because I make jewelry, which unfortunately requires a certain level of quality.  If I buy plastic that stretches badly and distorts the finished item, I have to return what is left for a refund and try my luck elsewhere.  I have been doing this a lot the past 4-5 years as the quality and number of suppliers have dwindled.  Unfortunate.

So what do I do when I order a pack or two from online?  I run a test of course!  I have a pre-set template in my cutter software (multiple squares and/or circles of different sizes).  I print this onto one sheet of the plastic, cut them out with my cutter, and bake them looking for any big issues.  If there are, I return what is left.  That is all.  Now that is not to say it can't be a little off.  You can still use plastic that is a little off, generally without any problems.  Or, you can decide to design items that do not have to be perfectly symmetrical.  This also works well and also fuels creativity in thinking outside of the box.

Yes, most packages are 5-6 sheets, some only have 3 sheets.  Sometimes you can buy bulk in 50-100 sheets.  It is still worth the effort, at least it is to me.  I get quite a few pieces of jewelry from the remaining 5 sheets and this makes it worth it.  Below are pictures of what I do. I keep it until I get the next package or when the packages of the same lot run out.  The images are from a couple of different batches from the past.  You can see the squares are tilted, but in the other the circles are perfect.  You just never know until you test it.

My family thinks I'm nuts, but that is how Ms. Faux Show Art rolls.  Hope this gives you some direction in where you want to go. 

Happy shrinking!