Fusing Plastic Bags: A Tutorial from Etsy Lab
By erinloechnerAre your plastic bags all dressed up with nowhere to go? Fear not, Etsy Lab teaches us the latest DIY trend:
What you'll need
Plastic bags (thin, flimsy ones work best)
Parchment paper, freezer paper or plain old copier paper
Iron (and your favorite ironing surface)
Making it
Flatten out the bag and trim the bottom seam and handles off. This allows the bag to be opened up into a larger rectangle of plastic. 
Turn the bag inside-out if it has printing on it. Once the ink heats up, it comes off the bag and makes a huge mess. If the bag has an interesting design that you'd like to preserve, try using a clear plastic bag layered on top of the printed one.
We find that between 6-8 layers of plastic gives the best results. So, you can either fold your bag twice until it is 8 ply thick, or use three or more bags layered on top of one another. Trying to fuse less than 6 layers often results in little holes forming in the finished piece and a generally weaker material.
Sandwich your plastic bags between the parchment paper
Next, run a hot iron (we set ours to "Rayon", but you will need to experiment a little to see what works for you) and keep the iron moving constantly. Make sure to get the edges, and after about 15 seconds, flip it over and iron the opposite side for a few seconds. 
Peel a corner of the paper back to see if the plastic is fused together. It should be fairly smooth and "one sheet" to the touch (watch out, its a little hot). If the layers are not all melted together, iron it some more. 
Peel the parchment paper away from the finished plastic sheet. Voila. Now, you can use this stuff to make a million things. We've made re-usable grocery totes, wallets, and floor cushions; I think its an inexpensive way to make waterproof linings for beach bags and makeup clutches. 
Here are a few more rad examples of what you can do with this stuff, courtesy of Etsy seller Eclipse 
Alright, y'all. Don't forget to open a window when you do this to avoid potentially brain-damaging fumes. Send us pictures of your creations, or add them to the Etsy Labs flickr pool.
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Writer Erin Loechner launched award-winning art/design blog Design for Mankind in mid-2007 in an attempt...
Julie B
Hi just wondering.... i'm able to successfully fuse the pastic together but the part i have trouble with is the sewing... the material is too stiff and it's really hard to turn it right side out once it's sewed together?!?! any suggestions? Thanks
Anonymous
The future brain dead unite,think about it,breathing hot plastic fumes....
Atomic Shrimp
This is such a cool idea - definitely going to try it - I've been recycling plastic bags by shredding and knitting them (linked), but it takes forever - I like the fast results of this method.
Sandra @ Pepperberry and Co.
Hi there!
I just wanted to let you know that this tutorial has been featured on Pepperberry and Co.'s '9 Crafty Ways to Celebrate Earth Day'.
Happy Earth Day!
Sandra
And Calliope
Slightly concerned about this after seeing a comment about toxic fumes from melting on plastic on the Etsy page. What do you think?
haleyer
This is so NEAT! I will try it tomorrow. I usually stash away the 'cool' plastic bags in my room and I always feel bad using them up to put my lunch in or something...now I have something useful to do with them.
lesley
wizodd
Very interesting. You probably want to stick to one type of plastic, Though most of them (if not all) are theroplastic (can be modified by heating e.g.fused,) different plastics have different melting points (and behaviours when melted!)
Some experimentation is required. By using all bags from a single merchant of course, you will more than likely be using the same type plastic.
Good ventilation is essential! fumes will be annoying at the very least, highly toxic at the worst. Outside is a GREAT idea. (Of course you are now turning some of the plastic into air pollutions....)
The melt point for average commercial low-density polyethylene is typically 105-115 °C.
You may be able to make thicker materials, but at some point you will run into problems because the pressing time will increase as the number of layers increases. Ideally, you would know the plastic, the melting point, and have a press set up at that temperature--like a dry-cleaners press.
Plastic bags also make excellent kite making material, in particular there is a Vietnamese crossed stick kite design that is extremely easy to make and possibly the easiest kite to fly. (I'll try and find instruction for it and post them.)
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org">TYVEK</a> is a spun flashspun high-density <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyethylene">polyethylene</a>
fibers. If your bags are polyethelene, most are, it will be a similar, although not as tough material.
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plastic_shopping_bag#Composition">Shopping bags are made of</a>
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