VINTAGE VINYL BOWLS

vinyl bowl DIY

A couple of years ago, after the last Queen's Day, while walking around Amsterdam I found a couple of old records laying in the street and I thought "This is the perfect sign to finally make some vinyl bowls!".
Vinyl lovers are going to hate this post. Sorry about that! I know that each record is special and all, but truth is that these say nothing to me and they were going to end up in the garbage anyway. So in a way, I feel like I kind of gave them a second chance. (Am I forgiven now?)
If you plan on making some vinyl bowls it is nice, of course, if you can find one that has a label that calls to you. Though, it is also important that you make sure you are not destroying any special record, because obviously after this it won't be possible to make it sound the same way. I would suggest making a search on the Internet if you are unsure about the record you plan on using.

cacti
What you'll need:

  • Vinyl records that you won't plan at all on hearing again
  • Oven
  • Oven Mitts
  • Bowl that can take up the heat from the oven
  • A second bowl that won't go in the oven

DIY vintage bowl

You'll be amazed by how easy this is once you try it.

vintage vinyl bowl

Preheat the oven to 180ºC/356 F
Place an oven bowl upside down inside the oven and the record on top. Make sure that the part of the record you want to be the inside of the bowl is facing down at this stage.
Keep an eye on the record and you will see it move downwards, almost like melting. When you see this happening and you notice that the record is soft, it's time to put your mitts on and take it out of the oven.
Now, this process has to be quick, because the vinyl is very sensitive to the heat but it also hardens quite fast. Don't worry though, you can always put it back in the oven for one or two minutes if it hardens too fast before you mold it.
Take the vinyl out of the oven and place it inside the second bowl, mold it as you wish and once it begins to get hard take it out and let it air.
There you have it! A nice handmade vintage looking bowl that no one else has equal.

vinyl bowls

Try using different sizes of bowls to make your vinyl bowls with different shapes.

how to make vinyl bowls

Some precautions to take into consideration: 
  • Make sure you do this in a well-ventilated area.
  • Ideally, I suggest you use a mouth-covering mask during the process, even though it won't harm you if you do it once in a while. But better prevent I guess.
  • Never exceed the 200ºC otherwise the vinyl will release toxic fumes.
  • Don't repeat this too often without wearing a mouth-covering mask.
  • Don't leave the record for too long inside the oven.
  • Don't leave the bowl in direct sunlight or use it to serve food, only if cold and wrapped like candy.
DIY vinyl bowl

Happy D.I.Y!
As always if you have any questions, let me know in the comments and I will do my best to get back to you as shortly as possible!



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