Wheat paste is a better replacement for PVA

Using XYZ Aiden's process, I've been creating cardboard molds. Rice paste is difficult to work with and PVA is bad for the environment.

I've been testing out molds made with wheat paste. It's made from just water and flour, and it's been a strong prospect for a replacement binder.

I ran a study comparing wheat paste to PVA and found that a higher concentration can give the same strength while being environmentally friendly. I encourage anyone interested in making pulp molds to use wheat paste instead.

Here's the guide I used to make mine

It's quick and easy to make while being just as strong as PVA.

Notes while pressing

When using Wheat Paste there are a few things to note:

• Wheat paste is cheaper than PVA or Rice Paste
• Wheat paste has more water than rice paste or PVA, so double the amount of binder when using wheat paste.

You can follow XYZAIden's tutorial on making cardboard. I've attached the mold I used to test shaping with wheat paste. I used ~40g of cardboard and 50mL of wheat paste to make the molds.

Creality

Ender-3 v2

No

No

20

PETG is the recommended filament but you can use PLA. PETG will allow you to get much more use and print with lower settings. PLA molds will start to break over time from the pressure.

Print PLA with:

• Extra walls on the sides that receive pressure
• 40% infill

Print PETG with:

• 10% or 20% Infill
• Standard walls