6 simple and effective techniques to EDURECE PAPER

There are different ways of harden cardboard for manual work…make it more resistant and give it a strong, long-lasting texture. In this case, the trick is to make a fixing gum with running dough, typically used to repair holes in walls. In any case, you can also prepare a fixing gum at home.

Materials

• Running mass
• White glue.
• Water.
• Small round brush to mix.
• Small, flat brush for painting surfaces.
• Container or small bowl.
• Plastic or metal spoon.

Step by step

1. Put gloves on so you don’t get your hands dirty.
2. Take a spoonful of running dough and deposit it in the bowl.
3. Add a spoonful of water to dissolve the dough.
4. Cover both ingredients with white glue.
5. Mix all the ingredients well with the rounded brush.
6. Add another spoonful of each ingredient and continue mixing with the rounded brush.
7. When the mixture is homogeneous and well dissolved, it is ready to be applied to harden the cardboard.
8. Clean the surface of the cardboard very well with a cloth.
9. With the flat brush, take some of the mixture in the bowl.
10. Paint the cardboard until the entire surface you wish to harden is well covered.
11. Wait a few hours for the mixture to dry. That’s it! Now you have hard cardboard.

Discover other ideas for reusing cardboard in our article How to recycle cardboard boxes.

For all these techniques, it is important that you always work on a table that you can dirty and that you cover it with newspaper sheets or plastic so as not to stain it. Next, we will show you how to correctly apply papier mâché technique to harden the cardboard:

Materials

• Diced newspaper leaves.
• White glue.
• Water.
• White acrylic paint.
• Small flat brush.
• Small round brush.
• Bowl or small glass.

Step by step

1. Put on gloves and clean the piece of cardboard well with a dry cloth.
2. Place the glue in a small bowl and add water in the same proportion. Mix well with the rounding brush.
3. Tear the sheets of paper into small pieces with your hands – they don’t need to be uniform.
4. Take the brush round and leave it covered with the glue.
5. Pass the glue on the cardboard and apply pieces of paper over the area with glue until it covers the entire surface. The idea is that there are several layers of paper to give the cardboard more strength and firmness.
6. Leave to dry for a while and reapply glue to the first layer of paper, then cover the surface again with the chopped newspaper sheets. Make at least three layers of papier mâché to obtain a hard and resistant cardboard.
7. Let it dry for 12 hours.
8. Optionally, you can give the cardboard a cleaner finish and allow its use in any project. With a flat brush covered with white paint, paint the cardboard evenly and let it dry. This way you will know how to paint the cardboard without it folding.

The resins have become an ally in the construction and repair of “do it yourself” molds. They are perfect for hardening cardboard, but are a little more expensive than the methods mentioned above.

Materials

• Polyester resin;
• Catalyst;
• Blankets or fiberglass fabric;
• Safety goggles and mask;
• Scissors;
• Cup or bowl;
• Small flat brush;
• Wooden toothpick to make the mix.

Step by step

1. Put on your safety goggles, mask and gloves.
2. Cut the fabric to the same size as cardboard.
3. Mix the polyester resin and the catalyst in a beaker following the manufacturer’s instructions.
4. Mix very well with the wooden toothpick.
5. Cover the brush with the mixture and apply over the entire cardboard surface.
6. Place the fiberglass fabric on the cardboard to create adhesion.
7. Make one more coat of the mixture on the fiberglass mesh to eliminate air bubbles.
8. Wait for it to dry.
9. Finally, cover everything with a white coat of ink to use the hardened cardboard in any manual work.

This technique in particular will give you a strong and resistant surface, due to the fact that it combines different elements with unique characteristics that lead to hardening. Such properties are enhanced in the mixture and result in a toughened cardboard.

Materials

• Toilet paper;
• Hot water;
• Plaster;
• White glue;
• Sieve;
• Container or bowl;
• Plastic spatula.

Step by step

1. Put your gloves on.
2. Pour the hot water into half a container.
3. Remove the cardboard cylinder from the toilet roll.
4. Put the toilet paper in the container with hot water and start cutting it with your hands. Remember that the toilet paper must be completely cut into the container.
5. Squeeze the paper with your hands to remove all absorbed water. You can also put it in a strainer to tighten it better.
6. Place the damp paper in a container and add approximately half of its weight in plaster.
7. Add the white glue until it covers all the materials.
8. Start stirring the mixture with a plastic spatula until it acquires a pasty consistency.
9. Add a little hot water and white glue to decrease the density of the mixture.
10. Clean the surface of the cardboard with a microfiber or cotton cloth.
11. Dip the flat brush into the mixture made.
12. Paint the entire surface of the cardboard and wait to dry.
13. Give the mixture a second coat and wait to dry. That’s it! With that step by step the cardboard will be hard.

This technique for hardening cardboard is easy preparation and applicationbut you’ll have to wait at least a day for the mixture to take effect. Therefore, we recommend you to be patient and use this method if you have plenty of time to prepare your project.

Materials

• Plastered bandages (available in pharmacies);
• Water;
• White or rubber acrylic paint.

Step by step

1. Put your gloves on.
2. Clean the surface of the cardboard with a microfiber or cotton cloth.
3. Put water in a container.
4. Cut the plastered bandages to cardboard size.
5. Dip the plastered bandage into the water and put it on cardboard.
6. Put more plastered bandages on top of each other until the surface of the cardboard is completely covered. Let it dry. If you want the cardboard to be very hard, put at least three layers of plastered bandages and leave it to dry for at least one day.
7. Cover the brush with white paint and paint the whole surface of the cardboard, leaving it to dry afterwards. After this process, the cardboard will be completely hard.

Sawdust is a natural product that can be obtained in building material stores or carpentry shops by a very low costIt is nothing more than the splinters of wood that come out of it when working with this material. Besides that, it is an excellent material to give firmness to other objects, like cardboard. To achieve this in a very practical way, follow the steps below.

Materials

• Very thin sawdust;
• White glue;
• Hot water;
• Plastic spatula;
• Cup or bowl.

Step by step

1. Put the sawdust in the cup or bowl.
2. Pour hot water and mix it with the spatula.
3. Strain the sawdust to remove the water.
4. Place the moistened sawdust in a container and add white paint gradually, mixing with the spatula until it turns into a soft white paste.
5. Add the white glue and start mixing with the plastic spatula.
6. When obtaining a homogeneous mixture, add a little more glue to decrease the density of the preparation.
7. Clean the entire surface of the cardboard with a microfiber cloth or cotton wool.
8. With a flat brush, paint the cardboard with the mixture made and let it dry.
9. Give me another coat with the flat brush. Let it dry overnight to get a completely hard cardboard.

If you want to read more similar articles to How to harden cardboardWe recommend that you enter our category of Art and Crafts.