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¶
Conceptually I started to design it as a paper binder, so one could add and remove pages easily. The first idea was using one of those metal rings, but it was hard to get, and very hard to use, as one has to buy the binder and remove the "spine". The next line of thought was using screw pins, that look quite aesthetic and are incredibly easy to use, in comparison with the rings. I also wanted to have a small air pump, which could be either electric or manual; looking online, I was struck by the idea of a heart pressure monitoring hand pump for this project, so I went for it.So I started sketching these ideas, and in one iteration I found it was possible to add a small compartment for storing the pump, and making it very integrated. During one of the mentoring sessions, Adriana came up and shared the amazing idea of building and designing this book as a pop-up book so the cover was designed to look seamless, but when inflated, the name Textiles under Pressure could be read.
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 can be wrapped with a decorative paper layer, also laser cut to the same dimensions for precise alignment.
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 | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cover STRUCTURE | Corrugated cardboard | 5 mm thickness | Laser cut to create a rigid and lightweight structure | $5 USD per sheet. |
| Binding system | Paper binding pins | Standard two-hole punch spacing (~80 mm) | Allows pages to be added, removed, or rearranged | $2 USD per 10 pins |
| Interior pages | Paper sheets | Letter size, trimmed to 22 cm height | Ensures pages are protected within the cover | around $1.50 USD with color printing. |
| Inflatable sample pages | Plastic film / textile samples | Variable depending on experiment | Used for inflatable textile demonstrations | Around $30 USD for all the different sheets |
| 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 | $17 USD for the whole kit |
| Adhesive | Paper glue | As required | Used for cover wrapping and assembly | $5 USD per liter |
Materials¶
The materials that were chosen for this experimentation must be:
- Easy to find
- Non-expensive
- Standardized
- 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:
- LDPE – As in dog litter bags
- HDPE – As in heavy duty trash bags
- Textile vinyl – That adheres with heat
- Crystal PVC
- Satin Fluorescent PVC
- Soft transparent PU – As in transparent curtains
- RipStop (cotton – polyester blend + PU) - As in camping tents
- Mylar – As in emergency blankets
- PolyPropilene + aluminum – As in Chip bags
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 methods¶
The purpose of these techniques is, on one hand, capture air between the layers, and on the other hand, preventing it from escaping. This can be done through heating, or even adhesives.
Heat¶
The purpose of this book is to experiment on heat-sealing methods for the different materials, all done through means of digital fabrication.
Fusing with ironing¶
Using the heat press we can fuse different layers of materials, and with a “isolating” material in between, it is possible to do it in specific parts, so the result behaves like we want to.
Laser¶
Using a laser cutter, it is possible to weld different layers of thin materials. Special thanks to Saskia Helinska and Javier Alboguijarro, whose previous research helped and inspired me a lot on this topic.
3D printer¶
With “Cheating” the 3D printer, it is possible to use the hot-end to fuse layers of materials in specific areas.
Air retention¶
How long can the material and technique hold the air inside without any leaks.
Leaks¶
Leaks can be repaired with the same material, a bit of all-purpose glue, and/or heat.
Valves¶
By using off-the-shelf check valves, it is possible to increase the air retention time and capacity of the materials.
Experimentation (Applied theory)¶
Sealing¶
Using different digital fabrication methods, the materials were sealed on determinate patterns and inflated to check the results.
Laser sealing¶
For this process, the starting point is a vector file to cut on the laser machine. The shape to be produced is a basic balloon, then we can move on to more complex geometries.
The basic principle is to have 2 or 3 passes for the materials to weld, with a small offset from the cutting vector. For these experiments, the offset was different in order to get the most accurate and best bond. To figure out which parameters are to be used on every offset, 5 different tries were made. The material used here are dog litter bags made from thin HDPE, and the machine that was used is the Xtool F1 Ultra Here are the results of every test.
Offsets: .1mm - .5mm¶
The general parameters for this type of welding are low power and high speeds, for this particular case it was 15% power and 500 mm/s for speed.
The next step was to use this information for more complex geometries, and also I wanted to experiment with the engraving area tool, in case it had better results for welding both layers.
As a conclusion, the best parameters were 2-3 offsets at .4mm for the best seal. The area engraving wasn't very helpful, as it eroded the edges of the seal and was easier to unstick.
Heat press with textile vinyl¶
The cover for the booklet was designed to be inflatable and readable, some letters are flat and some volumetric. First the design was drawn with Onshape and cut on parchment paper with the laser cutter. The areas where there is paper, is where the balloon/volume will be generated, and the areas without paper are sticking to the other vinyl, creating flat areas.
The parchment paper stencil was sandwiched between two pieces of textile vinyl with the sticky part in the middle, and then pressed at 160°C for 15 seconds. The hard plastic film is removed and the final result is inflatable.
It is important to remember to add a small tab at the top, or any edge whatsoever, for it will be the opening for inflating, and measure the space for the propper tubing.
3D printer sealing¶
The principle of this process is to have the 3D printer nozzle, while hot, to complete passes on the materials for them to bond. The general parameters for this experiment were the same, but the ones that vary for different results are the temperature, speed, passes (in this case, walls), and layer height.
The results of this exploration created a material sample library, forming the foundation for further experimentation.
