How much will shrink plastic shrink?

Shrink plastic shrinks down to about 40% of its original size when you bake it in the oven. The plastic goes from thin and pliable to hard and solid when you bake it, and the finished plastic design will have a thickness of about 1.25mm. This means that you have to make your motif about twice as big as you want it to end up.

How to bake shrink plastic

You bake shrink plastic at 130 degrees Celsius in a regular oven for about 3 to 4 minutes. Do not use the fan setting as it may cause the lightweight plastic to move during baking. Bake your shrink-plastic designs on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. At first, the shrink plastic will shrink and curl up, but after a few minutes, it will smooth out and flatten. Once the shrink plastic becomes flat, it has had enough.

Be aware that everything will shrink 

If, for example, you are going to use the shrink plastic design as a keychain or jewellery pendant, you will need to make a little hole in the plastic. Note that this hole will also shrink during baking. You can use a regular hole punch to create a hole in the shrink plastic before baking the design. It will create the perfect hole size for a keychain.

Shrink Plastic