Uses for Pool Noodles
Printed From: Community Theater Green Room
Category: Producing Theater
Forum Name: Props, Scenery, Costumes and Makeup
Forum Discription: For how-to's and where-can-I-find
URL: http://www.communitytheater.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=4635
Printed Date: 5/05/24 at 5:50pm
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 8.05 - http://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: Uses for Pool Noodles
Posted By: gelcat
Subject: Uses for Pool Noodles
Date Posted: 5/20/10 at 10:33am
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Since I have seen most people add an anecdote when they mention something they have used 'pool noodles' for, I thought it would be fun to add a thread that might pop up for someone looking for solutions to problems in a search.
Please add examples of how you have used pool noodles for props, scenery, costumes, and anything else and any tips you have for working with this material.
I'll start it off:
- ears of corn - for Wizard of Oz (takes some time sculpting with the band saw, but looks good when you add paper mache leaves, and you can put 'stems' on the ears to help placement on the stalk
- architectural moldings - fluted pool noodles, when split and flattened, look like fluted columns. Most handy when trying to fancy up an outside corner with the added benefit of padding it for actors exiting in the dark. one or two 'flutes' work for inside corner dressing.
-doughnuts - cut discs, then sculpt the outer edges to round, encapsulate in muslin with dutching glue, let dry, paint.
-padding corners backstage - where a platform leg is hanging out in an inconvenient location
------------- www.actorsguildonline.org Actors Guild of Parkersburg Parkersburg, WV |
Replies:
Posted By: JoeMc
Date Posted: 5/20/10 at 11:34pm
It took a while but I eventualy realised what a pool noodle is [I'm rather thick at times!] Pipe insulation for Air Con ducting also works well, normally fairly cheap, especialy if snaffled from Skip diving on Industrial sites. ------------- [western] Gondawandaland "Hear the light & see the sound! TOI TOI CHOOKAS {may you always play to a full house!} |
Posted By: MartyW
Date Posted: 5/21/10 at 8:54am
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YES! Someone finally said something that confused the Gaafa.... God knows us pour ignorant Americans have scratched our "noodles" trying to figure out some of that great Aussie lingo... But hey, look at how much I've learned over the years....
p.s. I like to use the pipe insulation too. Great for bending an edge onto a luan arch etc.. ------------- Marty W "Till next we trod the boards.." |
Posted By: vickifrank
Date Posted: 5/21/10 at 9:08am
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How about space alien costumes as rings around the arms and legs
And pretty much as any part of Seussical sets. ------------- _____________ http://www.studio-productions-inc.com 1-800-359-2964 The theater scrim people |
Posted By: JoeMc
Date Posted: 5/21/10 at 8:54pm
     ------------- [western] Gondawandaland "Hear the light & see the sound! TOI TOI CHOOKAS {may you always play to a full house!} |
Posted By: pdavis69
Date Posted: 5/25/10 at 6:32pm
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I use pipe insulation over a thin metal strip to create a tail for the Cat in Honk. We just sewed a fabric sleeve to go over it. It has resurfaced many times since then, once as the Cat again and several times at the tail for the Lion in Oz. ------------- Patrick L. Davis Fort Findlay Playhouse |
Posted By: DFTDONNA
Date Posted: 2/11/11 at 1:40pm
| We used them to decorate the Willy Wonka gobstopper machines and Wonkavator. Bright colors really popped! |
Posted By: Carol
Date Posted: 2/12/11 at 5:07am
| Carved phone handsets out of them to use in the telephone number for "Bye Bye Birdie" Bright colours really worked well! |
Posted By: dexter74656
Date Posted: 2/14/11 at 7:30pm
| They were GREAT as crown molding in an orante hotel set... split in half, primed & spray painted gold and fashioned on a wall; no one could tell the difference! |
Posted By: Linda S
Date Posted: 3/02/11 at 10:26pm
| For Enchanted April we had a working fountain that looked like it was built into a stone wall. (It was really a recirculating pump and big plastic tub.) We surrounded the whole thing with flexible luan, split a pool noodle down one side and slid it over the top edge. A little faux paint magic and it looked like a stone fountain. |
Posted By: gelcat
Date Posted: 3/03/11 at 4:20pm
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doing Robin Hood right now - carpet tubes are my friend! upright trees, horizontal log, and curved edges for my castle interior - ------------- www.actorsguildonline.org Actors Guild of Parkersburg Parkersburg, WV |
Posted By: Kim L.
Date Posted: 4/18/11 at 4:15pm
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I used pipe insulation (similar to noodles but more flexible) to make lollipops for Willy Wonka. It was a little bit of a bear but I rolled them into a lollipop configuration and got them to stay with gorilla glue and toothpicks. We then painted them bright swirly colors and put them on dowels. It took a good primer to get the colors to stick. They turned out darling and were huge. ------------- Kim |