3D Printing Soap, 2024-2026

Jing Xie, Yingting Gao, Jin Yu, Tingyu Cheng, HyunJoo Oh

3D Printing Soap: Exploring New Biodegradable Materials and Creative Possibilities, CHI 2026.

Soap is a colorful, DIY-friendly, and biodegradable material with potential beyond cleaning. This paper introduces a range of recipes for 3D-printable soap enhanced with additives that enable customization of color, scent, conductivity and environmental responsiveness. To support fabrication, we designed a low-cost 3D printer with a custom extruder optimized for soap. Our evaluation considers biodegradability, water solubility, and reusability, positioning soap as a sustainable medium for 3D printing and interaction design. Through example artifacts, we demonstrate new expressive and functional possibilities, highlighting soap's temporal materiality and potential as an environmentally responsible and responsive design material.