Introduction: Duct Tape Laptop Case - Without the Cardboard

I have seen a few duct tape laptop case instructables but they either involved modifying a jiffy bag (which is a good idea but just didn’t look ‘pretty’ or ‘neat’ enough for me personally ) or cardboard for the main padding and protection for the laptop (which doesn’t look like I would protect it enough for me... I would always be paranoid it would break still in my bag).So I have to admit I stole my ex boyfriends idea of using bubble wrap for the padding :) So this is how I made my duct tape laptop case.... and my first instuctable

Step 1: Step 1 - Materials Needed

You will need:
  • The laptop you want to make the case for
  • 1x Roll of duct tape in the colour you want (I used black to match the laptop)
  • Celotape
  • Bubble wrap
  • Sharp scissors
  • Paper

NOTE: The duct tape tends to gum up the scissors so wipe them between cutting each piece to keep the edges clean or they tend to fray and stay sticky, come unglued etc...

The total cost for everything I needed was £6.

Step 2: Step 2 - Making the Padded Wallet for the Case

Measure out your bubble wrap, it needs to be long enough to double up so you get a double layer of padding and then long enough to wrap round the laptop.
I celotaped the join in the middle so that it wouldn’t make the edges of the case rough.
Place the laptop at one end and use it to tape the edges down so you are effectively making an envelope for the laptop. NOTE: be careful at this point to not tape it too tight or you won’t be able to get the laptop back out, let alone when it get tighter when the duct tape is added.
Check you can remove the laptop. It’s now ready for the next stage.

Step 3: Step 3 - Duct Tape!

Take your paper and fold it up to make something to add either side of the laptop. This will make sure that you can pull the duct tape tight when wrapping but not too tight that the laptop won’t come back out again.
Start at the bottom by covering the underneath in one strip and folding the excess up to from neat edges.
Then start wrapping duct tape round one ‘line’ at a time.
Continue until you reach the ‘line’ before the lip of the case. Now to edge the lip nicely take a strip and place it half on the inside of the case and then wrap it round to cover it nicely. Once this bit has been done add in the last line of tape to finish it neatly.

Step 4: Step 4 - the Finishing Touches

Now to finish off the case you will need a flap of some sort to cover the opening. This can be any size. You can make a short one that is held down with Velcro, or a long one that wraps round etc... For this I made a long one so it doesn’t need anything to keep it held down. To do this it is exactly the same as the ‘body’ of the case. Wrap the tape round line by line until it reaches the appropriate length you require. I then took my scissors and trimmed the edge so that it was strait with no loose bits.