PPEs and Links!
Jan. 26th, 2008 08:19 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
labricoleuseThe other day i stocked up on some protective gear at the drugstore, and thought i'd make a post about it--not the sort of things you automatically think of as requisite in a costume craftsperson's work (like particle masks, rubber gloves, waterproof aprons, heat-resistent gloves, a respirator, etc), but occasionally necessary nonetheless.
Clockwise from the top left, that little bag of...well, they look like tiny condoms, frankly...is what's called finger cots. I guess they *are* just like tiny condoms, really, in that you roll them over the end of your finger, like the inverse of fingerless gloves. You can use them in any number of applications, but i like to keep them around in case i have a bandage on a fingertip from a previous injury and need to do something it might snag on. They're also good for covering small injuries (papercut, hangnail) while working, something you might not put a bandage on but which would get irritated while using your finger. They can also be used in masking off things with slender tips--say, you want to spray paint only the circlet portion of a crown, then you can use something like finger cots to mask the spike portions that you don't want sprayed. They come in S/M/L sizes and i like to keep a range on-hand (oh, bad pun).
The next two objects are finger splints. (These and the cots are what i bought that inspired me to write this post.) Besides the obvious--immobilizing a broken finger--i use these in a couple other ways as well. Rarely, i'll injure myself across the knuckle, and putting a splint over the bandage allows me to keep working with my other 9 fingers without risk of reopening the knuckle wound. They also can function as a thimble-like pressure device, not so much with actual sewing needles (where a real thimble is better, because its surface is pitted to guide the butt of the needle through without slippage) but in similar situations like pushing rivets or other hardware through a snug hole in layers of leather, or working with pronged settings or studs. They tend to "walk" (meaning, i'll loan them to someone and they'll forget to return them, or give them to someone who's injured their finger) so i buy a few new ones every now and then just to have them around.
Next to the splints is a wrist brace. This model doesn't loop around the thumb to immobilize the thumb and palm--i use it for wrist support if i'm putting strain repeatedly on a wrist, and if i feel twinges of RSI (Repetitive Strain Injury) i put it on immediately. Taking care of your wrists is extremely important for costume craftspeople, cutters, drapers, and tailors, and RSI is a very real risk.
Beneath the wrist brace is a sailor's palm. Your thumb goes through the loop and the white dome-shaped thing rests in your palm over the ball of your thumb. The sailor's palm is basically a thimble for your hand. As the name suggests, these are traditionally used by sailors when making and repairing sails, jamming huge needles through heavy sailcloth. I use mine in a number of applications, most frequently when i am doing millinery using multiple layers of heavy buckram, or in some kinds of macropuppetry and body padding applications, when shoving a huge carpet needle through thick heavy foam or felt.
Left of the sailor's palm is a compression glove. I also wear this when i feel strain in my hand and wrist to head off RSI at the pass. Sometimes i wear it in tandem with the wrist brace. When these kinds of injuries do flare up, i have immobilizing braces for both wrists that i wear 24-7 (especially while i sleep) until it subsides.
And, i also have some useful links to pass on!
This link to grist.com is ostensibly an advice column about the ethics of antique and vintage fur. Personal politics aside, theatre costume stocks are often packed with a rack or more of donated vintage fur coats, wraps, and other items. If not properly stored and cared for though, fur will rot and disintegrate. It's easy to cull most of your stock if you have the time and inclination to host a costume sale or donate a bunch of excess garments to charity, but furs are far more difficult to "get rid of." The end of that article though lists several organizations that will accept old furs, some taking even unwearable ones.
The same advice column has a pretty interesting article on footwear, specifically the comparison of ecological damage done by the leather shoe industry vs. the vinyl shoe industry.
And, speaking of shoes, there's a cool article in the Seattle Times on custom cordwainers Melinda and Louis Whisler, of the bespoke shoemaker boutique Rubaiyat, located in downtown Seattle. Some excellent shoe photos accompany the article.
Clockwise from the top left, that little bag of...well, they look like tiny condoms, frankly...is what's called finger cots. I guess they *are* just like tiny condoms, really, in that you roll them over the end of your finger, like the inverse of fingerless gloves. You can use them in any number of applications, but i like to keep them around in case i have a bandage on a fingertip from a previous injury and need to do something it might snag on. They're also good for covering small injuries (papercut, hangnail) while working, something you might not put a bandage on but which would get irritated while using your finger. They can also be used in masking off things with slender tips--say, you want to spray paint only the circlet portion of a crown, then you can use something like finger cots to mask the spike portions that you don't want sprayed. They come in S/M/L sizes and i like to keep a range on-hand (oh, bad pun).
The next two objects are finger splints. (These and the cots are what i bought that inspired me to write this post.) Besides the obvious--immobilizing a broken finger--i use these in a couple other ways as well. Rarely, i'll injure myself across the knuckle, and putting a splint over the bandage allows me to keep working with my other 9 fingers without risk of reopening the knuckle wound. They also can function as a thimble-like pressure device, not so much with actual sewing needles (where a real thimble is better, because its surface is pitted to guide the butt of the needle through without slippage) but in similar situations like pushing rivets or other hardware through a snug hole in layers of leather, or working with pronged settings or studs. They tend to "walk" (meaning, i'll loan them to someone and they'll forget to return them, or give them to someone who's injured their finger) so i buy a few new ones every now and then just to have them around.
Next to the splints is a wrist brace. This model doesn't loop around the thumb to immobilize the thumb and palm--i use it for wrist support if i'm putting strain repeatedly on a wrist, and if i feel twinges of RSI (Repetitive Strain Injury) i put it on immediately. Taking care of your wrists is extremely important for costume craftspeople, cutters, drapers, and tailors, and RSI is a very real risk.
Beneath the wrist brace is a sailor's palm. Your thumb goes through the loop and the white dome-shaped thing rests in your palm over the ball of your thumb. The sailor's palm is basically a thimble for your hand. As the name suggests, these are traditionally used by sailors when making and repairing sails, jamming huge needles through heavy sailcloth. I use mine in a number of applications, most frequently when i am doing millinery using multiple layers of heavy buckram, or in some kinds of macropuppetry and body padding applications, when shoving a huge carpet needle through thick heavy foam or felt.
Left of the sailor's palm is a compression glove. I also wear this when i feel strain in my hand and wrist to head off RSI at the pass. Sometimes i wear it in tandem with the wrist brace. When these kinds of injuries do flare up, i have immobilizing braces for both wrists that i wear 24-7 (especially while i sleep) until it subsides.
And, i also have some useful links to pass on!
This link to grist.com is ostensibly an advice column about the ethics of antique and vintage fur. Personal politics aside, theatre costume stocks are often packed with a rack or more of donated vintage fur coats, wraps, and other items. If not properly stored and cared for though, fur will rot and disintegrate. It's easy to cull most of your stock if you have the time and inclination to host a costume sale or donate a bunch of excess garments to charity, but furs are far more difficult to "get rid of." The end of that article though lists several organizations that will accept old furs, some taking even unwearable ones.
The same advice column has a pretty interesting article on footwear, specifically the comparison of ecological damage done by the leather shoe industry vs. the vinyl shoe industry.
And, speaking of shoes, there's a cool article in the Seattle Times on custom cordwainers Melinda and Louis Whisler, of the bespoke shoemaker boutique Rubaiyat, located in downtown Seattle. Some excellent shoe photos accompany the article.
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Date: 2008-01-26 05:28 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-01-26 07:59 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-01-27 10:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-01-27 11:51 pm (UTC)A lot of the theatres i've worked for have had a lot of bureaucratic red tape to consider when it comes to thinning stock, though, depending on whether they were state-sponsored, in residence at a university, a particular scale of non-profit, etc. (It's not to say it couldn't be done, of course.)
For example, at my current employer, we couldn't eBay any of our stock because it's technically not the property of the company, but the property of the university; in order to "liquidate" any of our stock, we have to send it to the Surplus department, where it's sold off through state-approved channels and the revenue goes through a million different pipelines, usually not back into our own coffers. We can donate things to charities or other state-sponsored or -recognized organizations with much less paperwork and effort, though.