Introduction: PET SAFETY GOGGLES

By My work
About: Tate is an artist, occasionally a curator, author, social designer as well as a frequent workshop facilitator focusing on utilization of available materials, tools and site specificity.

It's important to protect your eyes from splashing chemicals and stray bits of wood or metal but safety goggles always look so dorky...so you might as well look dorky in safety goggles of your own making.

The whole project should take under 45 minutes, minimal tools/materials and will result in some very comfortable goggles fitted to your specifications.

Step 1: TOOLS/MATERIALS

For making your own PET SAFETY GOGGLES you will need (most of) the following:

  • A knife and/or scissors
  • One PET bottle
  • Some tape (I used grip tape but duct would also work)
  • Matches/a lighter/candle
  • Some wire
  • Some ribbon or elastic strap.

Step 2: CYLINDER

Start by cutting the PET bottle into a cylinder, which is the only part you will need. Uses for the top and the bottom of the bottle are up to you.

*I will use the top as a funnel and the bottom keep put a plant in.

Step 3: DIVIDE

Cut the cylinder once so that it can be opened up completely. Place it over your eyes: You will need at least 2in or 5cm more than what reaches from your left to right temple. Trim it if you need to.

For me, a 1L PET bottle was the perfect fit and I did not have to trim it at all.

Step 4: EDGES

Cut 4 slices (about 1in or 2.5cm) into the PET plastic so that you can fold edges onto themselves, as if you are making half of a box. Where the edges overlap, put two small holes in the plastic with your knife/scissors and join them with a short length of wire. The PET plastic will still want to roll together but you should have clearly defined sides now.

Step 5: SOFTEN

Use your lighter or the matches/candle to slightly melt the edges of the PET plastic. By doing this on the corner edges you should be able to get the plastic in more of a square shape and by doing it on the long sides you will be able to make the form more fitted to your face shape.

Step 6: COMFORT

For extra comfort I suggest covering the edges with tape. I used an athletic grip tape I found but duct tape would also work very well and comes in a variety of colors.

Step 7: STRAP

For the strap I used some pink ribbon (because it matched the tape) but you can use some elastic, other colors of ribbon or string.

Poke two holes in the short sides of the goggles and slide a length of the strap material through them so that you have two bits of strap which you can tie behind your head.

Because of the springy nature of the PET plastic, when you tie the straps in a bow behind your head, the plastic will pull back and create a comfortable amount of tension on your face so that the goggles don't leave marks (depending on how tight you tie it) while they still stay firmly in place.

Step 8: SAFETY

Now how dorky you look while being safe is completely in your own hands. Modify your new PET SAFETY GOGGLES how you like...put some LEDs in them if you wish to be safe at night (and extra nerdy).

For more, check out:

http://justintylertate.weebly.com/
https://www.facebook.com/justintylertate
https://www.youtube.com/user/JustinTylerTate