Product Focus: Rubberizing shoes and boots for the stage using 1812 (pictorial)

So, i don't feel like i can call this a tutorial, because this adhesive is fairly new to the theatre industry and definitely new to me. It was first recommended in the ACTS FACTS newsletter back in 2003 as a safer substitute for the carcinogenic solvent-based shoe-rubbering adhesive, Barge, by safety expert Monona Rossol. Ms. Rossol is reknowned for her work in furthering safety education among artists and craftspeople and is the author of many reference books on the subject, including The Health & Safety Guide For Film, TV, & Theater. Our company has recently acquired 5 gallons of the 1812, and i decided to test it out and see how it works!

1812 looks like a white glue--water-based, runny--but as it dries it goes through several phases, one of which is kind of slimy and weird like the floaty egg bits in egg drop soup, and finally ends up as firm rubber. I don't know where to tell you to purchase it easily--i know that we got it wholesale straight from the manufacturer, which is UPACO, a division of Worthen Industries. I predict that this will be one of those products that, like Foss Manufacturing's group of thermoformable plastics and felts, quickly becomes purchasable from retail businesses that cater to the entertainment industry, like Manhattan Wardrobe Supply and Backstage Hardware & Theatre Supply.

So, here's my "guinea pig" pair of boots:



( ten more pictures illustrating what i discovered... )