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# Agar Ag18 (Solid, without Plasticizer)

![](/files/RPBYPV6kexYJQvTIogKf)

^ The bioplastic is the little round thing in the straw

Ingredients: 

* Water (50 mL)
* Agar agar powder (3.5 g)

Procedure:

* Mix all the ingredients into a pan or pot
* Heat up all the ingredients to 85-90 C on the stove
* Mix thoroughly
* Lower heat if bubbles are forming on the bottom of the pan
* Take off heat after about 4 minutes of stirring or until the agar is fully dissolved (the solution is at least 85 C and thicker than when started, almost syrupy)
* Cast into a straw
* After about 15 minutes or when the bioplastic is set, carefully take out the bioplastic from the straw
* Chop into pellets or keep as a rod
* Let dry for a few days
* Optional: after it dries and has shrunk, put it into a waffle maker to remelt it, and then (once it has cooled down a bit) mold it with your hands into the desired shape. This shape should not shrink again, as you already let it dry earlier, so there is no more moisture to escape.
* Done!

Properties:

* Before drying: thick liquid
* During drying: thick jello
* After drying: pretty hard

Notes:

* This stuff shrinks a lot! (7.5mm to 3mm in thickness, which is an 84 percent decrease in size)
* This is a pretty good recipe for making hard stuff

Images:

![](/files/Z0gFq6vgKGgmq9sET3aD)

Rev2:

I cast the same recipe into The Tube this time. Unfortunately, since the tube has a larger diameter, the bioplastic also had a larger diameter, meaning that I couldn't push it through my modified extruder, so I couldn't make any filament. Next time, I'll find a smaller tube and use that. This did manage to shrink though, with a whopping 93% decrease in size.

Images:

![](/files/iJ2hq9itr810vx2wAqji)

![](/files/NRaU72tPDfkSwalCIT8D)