Making inflatables with thermo transfer vinyl

by Adriana Cabrera and Prof. Lily Chambers

Difficulty: Elementary

Duration: 20 min

Introduction:

Fusion interfacing is applied to textiles to transfer material or print. It is a practical and easy way to make inflatables anywhere, using transfer vinyl Thermo polyurethane (TPU) and baking paper. You can use the baking paper sandwiched between two layers of TPU. This paper can withstand high temperatures, creating air chambers after sealing the layers.

Prerequisite & Background topics

Before starting the tutorial, you can familiarise yourself with the following topics and terminology through previous tutorials and browse the resources linked under each item.

Introduction to inflatables

https://adrianacabrera.github.io/SoftRobotics/surface.html

aeroMorph - Heat-sealing Inflatable Shape-change Materials for Interaction Design

Printflatables: Printing Human-Scale, Functional and Dynamic Inflatable Objects

Materials & Equipment

Heat shrink tube 6-7 mm or cable ties

Heat transfer vinyl

scissors

baking (parchment) paper

Silicone rubber tubing 4mm

Air Valve Connector

hand pump