DIY Cement Casted Toothbrush Holder.

So I got this white cement for another thing entirely, it turned out it was in excess. Time for some "white cement DIY"

This toothbrush holder is casted out of white cement using everyday tools.

Gaining from the fact that it's essentially white cement, it's not affected by moisture or high humidity as present in bathrooms, and also very hard and scratch resistant after being completely dried.

• White cement

• A large bowl

• Corrugated cardboard

• Sand

• Scissors

• Blade

• Glue

• Pencil

• Ruler

• A sheet of paper

• Something to stir/mix and transfer cement (a small unused spoon, knife, etc)

• A small wooden plank

• A small bowl.

Take the rigid cardboard (I got this from a wool pack, it's a single layer cardboard but relatively sturdier than the typical corrugated cardboards) base and cut out a rectangle of sides 16cm by 7.5cm. Give it rounded edges at the four corners.

Make two rectangles at the sides with 1cm margin from all sides (except the side next to the square which is about 2cm space) and a dimension of 5.5cm by 2cm.

Make a square of sides 5.5cm by 5.5cm in the middle center of the two rectangles.

Give the two rectangles a well rounded top and bottom as in the pics. (Although not shown in the picture) Give the four corners of the middle square rounded edges, too.

Make sure everything is measured and drawn properly with the outlines similar to the above pics.

Cut out the outlined shapes.

Take a thin strip of paper or a broad sheet rolled into a thin strip. Measure the inner length of the middle square hole with this thin strip. Add a little more to the actual measurements, say 1cm so that the paper overlaps by 1cm.

Transfer the measurement unto a corrugated cardboard ( with a layer of it peeled off for more flexibility). cut out the length of the paper strip on the cardboard (around 22cm). Make sure the cardboard is a little more than 7cm in height.

Fold the cardboard and insert in the square hole, release it to take the shape of the compartment, it should overlap by about 1cm. Mark and outline the point of overlapping on the part under in the overlapping.

Take the cardboard length out and cut off the excess portion marked from the arm under the overlapping.

Again, fix the cut-fit cardboard into the square compartment and see that its tips meet without an overlap.

Repeat the process for the two rectangular compartments by the sides.

Take out the three pieces of cardboards used for compartmentalization (two side rectangles and a middle square).

Measure a height of 7cm on all the three and cut to same height. Place them into their compartments again. Now tape the edges at which they meet ( there should be little or no overlap).

Cut out a 7cm high cardboard piece long enough to wrap round the entire length of the mould base with a cm overlap. Wrap it round the mould base, use just a bit of glue to secure things into position. Make sure to use just little glue so as to make it easy to remove the cardboards after the casting is hardened.

To complete the mould making, get a bowl wide and deep, place a wooden plank ( same or a bit larger than the cardboard mould base) in the bowl ( I prepared a levelled sand floor in the bowl, which was an error as the base started to bulge into the compressible sand layer under it while shaking the bowl to get rid of bubbles)

Place the cardboard mould on the plank and fill its surrounding space with sand, ensure the sand filled into the bowl doesn't cause the cardboard walls to bulge inwards.

Using a small/narrow spoon or knife (that is no more in use) fill the inner compartments as in the pics.

So, technically the sand is the mould while the cardboard only acts as a medium to prevent mixing of sand and cement. Without the sand ( support), the cardboard quickly becomes soggy and then loose shape afterwards.

Find a small bowl, something to stir and mix the cement (spoon, a small knife etc), water and most importantly, the white cement.

Pour a little amount of the cement in the bowl, add little water ( more can be added if not enough, but can't be removed if too much, so add it poco a poco). Mix it to get the consistency shown above (not too thick, not watery either, just about being a little bit watery but not). Start to fill the mould with it, prepare more cement if needed until the mould is full.

Now place the bowl on a raised (not properly balanced platform; like a chair on a rough ground) and steadily shake the platform this conversely result in the shaking of the mould so as to expel air bubbles. The shape of the mould might get tampered with while shaking, adjust it by moving the surrounding sand to support the earlier set shape.

Leave it to get hardened ( not completely dried,). Mine took 6 hours indoors to get hardened to what I like (hard enough to knock on without cracking but still get scrapped by hard sharp objects) .

After it's hard enough to be taken out of its mould (5-6hrs indoors), take it out of the sand, then peel off the cardboard from it.

I had some minor bulges on it.

Use a sandpaper (although I used a knife) to scrape the bulges away.

Dedicate enough time for this and sand anything that needs to be sanded.

Get your toothbrushes and toothpaste and arrange them in their new home! Enjoy your handwork.