Introduction: DIY Glowing Phone Case From Laundry Detergent + Aluminum Mold / Fantastic!
Hello, friends! Today, let’s start with something curious — this phone case.
During the day, it charges from regular light, and at night it glows like real phosphor. And yes, I made it myself — from whitening laundry powder and a couple of other ingredients I’ll share with you in a moment.
We’ll also make an aluminum CNC mold for injection molding. This mold can produce phone cases or any other parts from our silicone glowing mix in just a few seconds. But let’s go step by step.
Supplies
- Laundry detergent (which contains the components listed below)
- Baking soda
- Starch
- Silicone sanitary sealant — I’ll tell you more about it a bit later
- CNC aluminum mold
- Respirator
- Gloves
- And a few other accessories.
Step 1: Making the Glowing Mix
I start with whitening laundry powder — it contains anionic and nonionic surfactants, zeolites, phosphonates, polycarboxylates, enzymes, and optical brightener.
Inside, along with the white powder, there are blue granules.
I measure out 10 g of powder.
Add a bit of starch (for viscosity).
About 5 g of baking soda — to alkalize and stabilize the optical brightener.
The optical brightener absorbs ultraviolet light and re-emits it as a soft blue glow — like a white T-shirt under UV light in a club. Baking soda helps release these molecules, while zeolites and polycarboxylates prevent them from clumping.
As a binder, I use oxime-based silicone sealant — in an alkaline environment, it disperses the particles better and protects them.
Step 2: First Purpose of the Mold
This mold was originally made for wire insulation and preliminary testing. I sent the two-part model for manufacturing to JLCCNC. JLCCNC is your trusted CNC machining partner — fast, affordable, and high-precision. Whether you’re making a prototype or starting mass production, they bring your ideas to life exactly as designed.
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Ordering was super easy: I uploaded the ready file (you can upload several), selected the material (aluminum), the finish (anodized or sandblasted), paid — and that’s it.
A week later, the mold was in my hands. Perfectly smooth, no burrs, and the parts come out easily without any release agent.
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Inside the mold, there are two configurations: for connecting two wires and for three — useful for testing different setups.
Step 3: Hot Glue Test
First, I poured in transparent glue — it set perfectly, no bubbles. Then I tried red glue — it’s denser, cools slower, but holds the shape even better.
Next, I want to design an injection mold for full-size silicone phone cases, figurines, and other parts. But before that, it’s important to see how the mix and mold construction behave in practice.
Step 4: Silicone Case Experiment
I rolled silicone into a 3–4 mm sheet, placed the phone, and fixed it with paper. I checked where the material pressed tighter and where it was softer — this will help perfect the future mold.
Step 5: Glow Test
I charged the piece under the sun, then went into the dark — it glowed with a soft greenish-blue light. With yellow dye, it turned into a beautiful bright green shade.
Conclusion
The wire mold handled the task perfectly and proved that the technology works. Now it’s time to move on to molds for full-scale case production and other elements. In the meantime, we already have a working prototype that can be charged with light and admired in the dark.
