Process¶

Introduction¶

This section provides the information, files, and fabrication processes required to replicate the Textiles under pressure book locally. The project embraces the idea of distributed co-creation, where knowledge is not centralized in a single laboratory or researcher, but instead shared, reproduced, and expanded by a network of makers, students, and educators.

By documenting the experiments, materials, and fabrication methods in an open and accessible way, the booklet becomes more than a publication: it acts as a toolkit for collective exploration. Educational environments (and/or Fablabs, makerspaces and such) around the world can reproduce the samples, adapt the experiments to locally available materials, and contribute new findings to the growing body of knowledge around inflatable textiles.

In this way, the project aligns with the principles of open documentation and distributed manufacturing, encouraging a collaborative approach to material research and textile innovation.

Each replication of the booklet becomes a new iteration of the research.

The Book per se¶

The booklet is designed to be easily fabricated using tools commonly available. Its structure is based on a simple yet durable binding system that allows pages to be added, removed, or rearranged as the research grows.

The cover is made from 5 mm corrugated cardboard, laser cut to shape in order to create a rigid and lightweight structure. To improve both durability and visual quality, the cardboard cover is wrapped with a decorative paper layer, also laser cut to the same dimensions for precise alignment.

The binding system uses two standard paper-binding pins, commonly used in office folders. The holes are spaced according to the standard two-hole punch format, making it easy to assemble the booklet.

The interior pages are designed to accommodate letter-size sheets, slightly shortened to fit comfortably within the covers. Each page measures 22 cm in height, ensuring the edges remain protected by the cover while maintaining compatibility with standard printing formats, and also for adding tabs.

This modular structure allows the booklet to function not only as a publication, but also as a living archive of experiments, where new material samples, test results, and documentation can be continuously added.

Bill of Materials – Booklet¶

Component	Material	Specifications	Notes
Cover STRUCTURE	Corrugated cardboard	5 mm thickness	Laser cut to create a rigid and lightweight structure
Cover wrap	Decorative paper	Cut to match cover dimensions	Glued to the cardboard for improved aesthetics
Binding system	Paper binding pins	Standard two-hole punch spacing (~80 mm)	Allows pages to be added, removed, or rearranged
Interior pages	Paper sheets	Letter size, trimmed to 22 cm height	Ensures pages are protected within the cover
Inflatable sample pages	Plastic film / textile samples	Variable depending on experiment	Used for inflatable textile demonstrations
Air pump compartment	Corrugated cardboard	Integrated into cover structure	Designed to hold a small manual hand pump
Manual air pump	Plastic hand pump	Hand pump for measuring blood pressure	Used to inflate the interactive pages
Adhesive	Paper glue	As required	Used for cover wrapping and assembly

Materials¶

The first stage focused on identifying materials that could potentially function as inflatable membranes while remaining accessible in most local contexts.

Instead of relying only on specialized industrial textiles, the selection included a combination of:

Common plastic films
Recycled packaging materials
Textiles
experimental materials

These tests allowed the project to establish a basic understanding of which materials could contain air and which required additional treatments or hybridization.

The materials chosen for this experimentation were done so based on availability, how easy it is to find them, how harmful some of the sealing processes might be, flexibility, permeability, compatibility with sealing processes, and the possible applications as garments:

Textile Vinyl
LDPE (as in dog litter plastic bags)
Polypropilene + aluminium film + Polyethylene (as in chip bags)
PVC "crystal" (as in greenhouse lining)
Satin PVC (as in raincoats)
Polyester film (as in document folders lining)
Mylar (as in emergency blankets)
Rib Stop 65% polyester + 35% cotton (as in weatherproof clothes)
Polyethylene film (as in ziploc bags)

The results of this exploration created a material sample library, forming the foundation for further experimentation.

Keep in mind that these chosen materials may not be so easy to find locally, so it's important to do tests with the materials available.

Sealing¶

Once the materials were selected, the second stage focused on the processes used to transform flat materials into airtight chambers. Several sealing methods commonly available in FabLabs were explored, including:

Thermal sealing using Laser
Thermal sealing using the 3D printer hotend
Adhesive bonding
Mechanical joining (stitching) combined with sealing (both heat and adhesive)

For each material, different sealing parameters such as temperature, pressure, and time were tested. The goal was not only to determine whether a material could be sealed, but also to identify reliable fabrication strategies that could be easily replicated by students or makers.

These experiments resulted in a collection of inflatable samples that document the relationship between material properties and sealing techniques.

Laser cutter sealing¶

For this process we are using 3 different patterns for inflatable chambers on the materials. The parameters on each are different and listed, and the key for a clean fusing is to have both sheets as close together as possible, it is possible to use liquid, like water or hairspray, so the sheets stick together better. Some plastic bags are very tightly packed so it is useful for this process. Static electricity can also be a powerful ally, as rubbing the plastic on one's hair can create enough attraction between the sheets. For this process we can't use any PVC as it can produce toxic chlorine gases when it burns. With that in mind, the results for the rest of the materials are as follows:

LDPE¶

Machine: Laser Cutter Material: LDPE Plastic Film Did it work?: Yes Layer configuration: 2 layers

Sealing Power: 22% Speed: 1000 mm/min Offsets: 3 Fill: No

Cutting Power: 60% Speed: 400 mm/min Offsets: 1 Fill: No

Chip's bag¶

Machine: Laser Cutter Material: Polypropilene + aluminium film + Polyethylene Did it work?: Yes Layer configuration: 2 layers

Sealing Power: 22% Speed: 1000 mm/min Offsets: 3 Fill: No

Cutting Power: 60% Speed: 400 mm/min Offsets: 1 Fill: No

Ziploc bag¶

Machine: Laser Cutter Material: Polyethylene film Did it work?: Yes Layer configuration: 2 layers

Sealing Power: 22% Speed: 1000 mm/min Offsets: 3 Fill: No

Cutting Power: 60% Speed: 400 mm/min Offsets: 1 Fill: No

Rib Stop¶

Machine: Laser Cutter Material: Rib Stop Did it work?: Yes Layer configuration: 2 layers

Sealing Power: 22% Speed: 1000 mm/min Offsets: 3 Fill: No

Cutting Power: 60% Speed: 400 mm/min Offsets: 1 Fill: No

Mylar¶

Machine: Laser Cutter Material: Mylar Did it work?: Yes Layer configuration: 2 layers

Sealing Power: 22% Speed: 1000 mm/min Offsets: 3 Fill: No

Cutting Power: 60% Speed: 400 mm/min Offsets: 1 Fill: No

Polyester film¶

Machine: Laser Cutter Material: Polyester film Did it work?: Yes Layer configuration: 2 layers

Sealing Power: 22% Speed: 1000 mm/min Offsets: 3 Fill: No

Cutting Power: 60% Speed: 400 mm/min Offsets: 1 Fill: No

3D printer sealing¶

For this process we can be more careful and accurate with the temperature, so we are able to use all of the material samples. Also it is important to say that we are not actually 3D printing, but using the hotend strategically to fuse the different layers. The most important part of this process is to stick the sheets to the printing bed, some high-temperature tapes work, also 3D printer glue is useful. Sometimes we need to trick the printer to print closer to the printing bed so the material fuses better. For most of the Creality printers, it is possible to use a piece of filament to "trick" the printer into printing. For Prusa printers it is possible to print without filament as an option.