8 useful household items you can make with a 3D printer
Those handy little household gadgets and tools always come into play at some point. Whether they’re used every day, or joyously discovered at the bottom of a kitchen drawer after being clung onto for that ‘just in case’ moment. Not only can these intricate items be made through large scale, full manufacturing processes, but they can also be created with your own 3D printing equipment. We’ve listed some of our favourite 3D printed household items…
- Ear phones case
Ear phones are delicate pieces of equipment. If you want to make sure you don’t lose them then a safe case is usually the answer. Thanks to 3D printing, there are numerous 3D printed ear phone case designs to choose from. It could be a design that helps spool the cables tidily, or one that holds your Apple Airpods, it could even be a case with a magnet for effective closure of the case. The versatility of 3D printing means that new designs with intricate features can be produced easily.
- Bag clips
Plastic bag clips for securing food and other household items are incredibly useful. Even more usefully, they can be made via 3D printing. If you’d like to do this yourself, or for your friends and family, you can print off various different bag clip sizes and shapes depending on what kinds of bags they are going to be used for. Sealing clips, refuse bag clips, crocodile clips, rolling bag clips and coffee bag clips can all be produced – there really is a clip for every eventuality!
- Multi-purpose COVID tool
COVID-19 contact-free tools push and open doors, press buttons, and move objects without you having to touch anything using your hands. Handy for use in public facilities, they act as an extension of your hand. Check out this design file for a door opener operated using elbows. If you’d like to design your own, it’s worth thinking about the weight and size of the doors, which way they open and the shape of the handles you will likely be using to ensure you choose the best design and materials.
- Toothpaste squeezer
You can do your bit to cut down on waste with a practical toothpaste squeezing device designed to get every ounce of paste out. Easier than having to squeeze by hand, this simple device applies the pressure on the tube so you don’t have to. Its durability means that you can keep hold of it in your cabinet for a long time too. Some designs feature a lock to stop the tube from rolling, and wide versions mean you can use it with different sized tubes.
- Fruit juicers
Another way of making sure you get every last drop from your purchases is with a 3D printed citrus fruit juicer. The design is really simple, if you are new to 3D printing it’s a good first project to get going with. A slightly different design but with the same premise is the screw-on bottle juicer, complete with a universally sized mouth to fit most bottles, on this object there is a round bowl shape at the bottom to funnel the juice directly into the bottle.
- Desk cable holder
If you’ve got a busy desk at home replete with all kinds of devices, you’ll no doubt have cables that go along with them. Messy cables, that are usually good at getting in the way, causing tripping hazards and generally getting under your skin. Don’t worry, a 3D printer can come to the rescue by producing a handy cable mount. A cable mount is not the only way to keep your cables in order, check out these other 3D printed cable organising tools.
- Tablet stand
If you’ve got an iPad, Amazon Fire or a Samsung Galaxy tablet, chances are you don’t want to be holding it all the time while you’re watching a movie, joining a conference call or watching a YouTube clip. 3D printing a stand will easily resolve this dilemma. A tablet stand can be used with various different models and can be plugged in while it’s on it too, some can even be hung on the wall. Check out some of these tablet stand creations.
- Tweezers
Last but not at all least, why not 3D-print your next pair of tweezers? Such a handy item to have in the house, useful for a range of jobs from removing splinters to tightening the screws on your glasses, with the right 3D model design, you can even print in two colours.
For now, 3D printing is certainly putting the ‘handy’ into these eight household items but the technology’s growing capabilities and interest from consumers suggest that even more of our familiar, everyday objects will be 3D printed too. Watch this space.
