So I read a great little blurb in Make Magazine that talked about using Minwax Wood Hardener to turn things like cardboard into a plastic-like substance. the minwax product is basically plastics suspended in a solvent which evaporates once it’s penetrated the wood (or paper, cardboard, brushes, fabric, etc…) and leaves the plastics behind. more or less, anyway.

I finally picked up some and I tried it out this morning. I think it will work! The origami I was coating seemed to suck it up pretty easily. the chiyogami and heavier papers did much better than the really thin shiny stuff, but that’s to be expected.

here’s a handy tip- don’t try to pour some into a styrofoam cup. big mistake! it starts bubbling and eats right through the styrofoam in a second. I’ll post some photos of the whole process to my flickr account later- it’s www.flickr.com/photos/origomi. I’m still waiting for the first layers to dry, after which we’ll see how well it worked or not.

-Eric