Recycling old vinyl LPs......

Respect the Music

The first rule of recycling old vinyl is :  Respect the music.  Make sure they are scratched and unwanted by anyone else who may want them for their music.  I say the same thing about ripping apart old books, but...um.. not the music bit, obviously.  You would read books, wouldn't you...ermmm, but you understand what I am getting at.  I would feel mortally wounded if someone ripped apart a book of Shakespeare's works, or poems by Emily Dickinson.  There are people who walk among us who feel the same about Pink Floyd or Nirvana on vinyl.  Tread lightly.  Check the internet.  You don't want to destroy a collector's item.  That being said.....

Be supercreative by knowing your material

There are some really neat things that can be made from old vinyl records.  You may know by now, or you will learn soon, following my blog, that I don't always just give out tutorials that are brief and full of pictures and demonstrations when there is some 'science learnin' to be done.  I assume people want to know WHY it works and why the material does that, so I find out and tell you.  The more we know about the materials we work with, the better we can master them and create really cool stuff, and be safer from injury and harming the environment.
Vinyl records are polyvinyl chloride, more commonly known as PVC. Yes, just like the pipes around your house.  PVC is a very inert plastic, meaning it doesn't react or degrade with fluids or other things it comes into contact with.  When burned, though, it gives off dioxins.  Dioxins are a serious health hazard, so do not burn the LPs.  Heating to a low melting point is OK, but catching on fire is not.  If you are throwing away LPs, ask your local authority if your trash is burned.  You don't want to have your LPs burned and add dioxin into our atmosphere, so be informed about your garbage and where it ends up.  Remember, there is no 'away'.  'Away' is your back yard or someone else's.  
PVC will start to melt and deform at 250F or 121C.  Pouring boiling water over a thin vinyl record is enough to make it bend.  Dropping an LP in a big pot of boiling water will also melt it, but then you have boiling water and steam to deal with and that seems slightly more injurious than being careful about melting PVC in the oven.  As long as you don't go over 200C or catch the LPs on fire, you don't have to worry about toxic fumes.  It was around 1948 when LP's were being made from PVC for the commercial market, but they were much thicker.  The ones people craft with are the thinner ones from more recent history, so look for music from the late 70's onward that should be a safe bet for the right material.  (Anything disco, IMHO)

Techniques

Set your oven between 150C and 200C.  WARNING: Do not exceed 200C or you risk getting nasty fumes.  

photo from craftbits.com

For a simple bowl, you can set the LP on top of an upturned, oven proof bowl.  As the LP melts, it will fall over the bowl, taking that shape.  You can pull it out early, after about 5 minutes, and have it less formed with large bulges around the edges, or you can leave it in for a few more minutes and the PVC will actually shrink around the form of the upturned bowl, forming a more even, but not perfect by any means, lip around the edge.  Pull it out with hot pad holders.  Let it cool and it should pull right off the upturned bowl.
For a fancier bowl or to create a more free form shape, set the LP on a cookie sheet, covered in aluminium foil.  Set it in the preheated oven for about 5 minutes.  Set it inside a bowl or another shaped dish form and press the middle to the bottom and shape the sides how you want them.  If it gets stiff before you are finished, set it back in the oven for a minute or so to soften.  You can form the LP over the side of a table, making a 90 degree angle and make bookends. You can form the LP over a really thick book or books covered in baking paper and make it into a form that could be used as a napkin/serviette/letter holder.
   

Picture from buygreen.com

For bracelets or to cut the LP into strips, put it on the covered cookie sheet and set in an oven no hotter than 200C, again, for about 5 minutes.  You have to cut it really fast when it comes out, so take it out on the cookie sheet, and put the cookie sheet on a heat resistant surface.  Use a roller cutter to cut the LP into the size strips or pieces you want and let them cool.  Don't worry if they are a little wavy around the sides because to form them into bracelets and/or cuffs, you are going to heat them up again and shape them when they come out.  Find glasses or glass jars that about the diameter of a bracelet that will fit your wrist, or whom ever they are going to end up on.  Put the pieces, or piece back on the cookie sheet and melt again. If you are working alone, you will want to do one bracelet at a time. When you pull it out, work fast, with silicone gloves or oven mitts on, and mould the bracelet around the glass.  You can embellish them, paint them, make holes in them with a dremel and attach charms or chains.  (Just an aside, a Dremel is on Nerdy Girl's birthday wish list) 

Painted with acrylics first and sealed with a
semigloss polyurethane to finish and
protect the paint and make the bowl food safe.
Available from Eye Pop Art at her Etsy shop. 

If using it for food or snacks, I would line the bowl with a paper towel or serviette.  You don't want to wash these bowls because of the paper label on them.  Just wipe them clean.  


Here is a link to find some inspiration:  cleverly recycled vinyl records  (my personal favourite is the squid.)


As always, leave a comment or question below and thanks so much for reading.