how long to bake styrofoam for crafts?

Question

i found a web site that told me to bake at 350 but it didnt say for how long.

Answer 1

What are you making that you would need to bake styrofoam? I've never seen a project made of styrofoam that you would bake. Considering the nature of the product, I would say no higher than the lowest temperature setting for the temp. As for the length, it really depends on what you are making.

Edit: Are you trying to melt the styrofoam? If you are, then temp on the website you saw would make sense. In that case you would just have to watch closely until it does what you want it to do. I would think once it started to melt it would go quick.

Answer 2

I don't know too many crafts that call for "baking" Styrofoam (polystyrene foam) alone. We do sometimes cover it entirely or only partly with polymer clay, and then bake it at baking temps and times for polymer clay (generally 267-275 degrees). At those temps , the polystyrene will shrink though. If it's first covered with aluminum foil before baking, it will take longer to shrink. (We would be using them as forms or armatures under the clay in those cases though, not for themselves.)

You can find a bit more info on "baking" polystyrene on this page:
http://glassattic.com/polymer/covering.htm
(then click on "Recycle #6 --polystyrene, "Styrofoam, etc"
and read some of the relevant subcategories under it).


HTH,

Diane B.

Answer 3

I'm pretty sure that most Styrofoam makes a toxic gas when burned.

Answer 4

I worked in plastics for years and don't think it would fair very well at that temperature. You would get a black blob.

Answer 5

I think you should recheck your site.Styrofoam is flammable at that high a temperature.