# Working with spray foam - for beginners:



## silentskream (Sep 20, 2012)

Step 1) Draw a plan for your final product.
Step 2) Assemble can,nozzle and straw.
Step 3) Spray your hands, your hair, and various items in your carport/garage.
Step 4) Throw your drawing from step 1 into the trash.
Step 5) Work at a snails pace.
Step 6) Discover that the straw will stick (and i mean STICK) to pretty much everything you don't want it to.
Step 7) Remove the stupid straw.
Step 8) work even slower.
Step 9) Give up, go buy a pumpkin at the dollar store.
Step 10) get home from the dollar store and discover that your foam thing looks way cooler than it did when you left it.

*disclaimer: Steps 1-4 are optional.
*creative liscence note: Step 7 may be moved to before step 5, as needed.


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## scarrycher (May 30, 2012)

thanks,now you post this! could have saved me alot of time about a month ago!!:


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## BioHazardCustoms (Aug 5, 2009)

Yeah, that seems about right. My wife laughs at me for putting petroleum jelly on my face and hands before I open a can of great stuff. It keeps that crap from sticking to me, though.


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## silentskream (Sep 20, 2012)

That's a GREAT idea!!

I was given a case of it (not actual Great stuff, some other brand) and was trying to think of how to use it.. so i thought i'd make a pumpkin..
my plan was loosely based on Stolloween's paper mache pumpkins, www.stolloween.com

but obviously, with spray foam instead.
My thought was that I could tie up a grocery bagfull o other grocery bags
then tie another one around it, and spray foam between them,
then, while the spray is still wet, wrap with twine accordingly to make the grooves.

problem 1: spray foam straw instantly sticks to plastic bags.

problem 2: once foam is sprayed in an area, you cannot get the straw past it to spray below it, so there's no maneuverability, and you end up with the top half of a pumpkin.

so then i decided to just spray the outside of the bags, which worked much better, albeit a little more squiggly-skinned than your standard pumpkin.

problem 3: the ouside dried kinda nice, but the stuff still between the two bags has not.. apparently, it needs access to air in order to dry. DOH!

and considering how readily-accessible pumpkins are in the ready-to-buy world, i'm thinking my canned foam should be used on something else.

i'm down to 10 cans. any suggestions?


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## BioHazardCustoms (Aug 5, 2009)

Sure. Send me 5 and I'll tell them to you, lol.

If you spray it and let it start to cure, once it gets a skin on it, you can manipulate it with your hands. This makes for some really awesome sculpting, as you can get the base form made before you ever start working on it to put in details.


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## silentskream (Sep 20, 2012)

I did kinda notice that, but unfortunately my hands were covered in it too, so I was too sticky to actually try it.

maybe pumpkin #2 will turn out better.

I did make a pretty good screamy face on the plastic beside my pumpkin while i was playing around with it.. I'm not sure what i'm gonna do with it.. but we were thinking about making a grim reaper for the front hallway, so i might put that face on him.


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## Rania (Sep 24, 2012)

I'm in the middle of building a 4-foot pumpkin head using many many cans of Great Stuff. Got that crap in my hair last night! That was fun!


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## Haunted Spider (Sep 6, 2010)

For the love of pete, whatever you do, if the top breaks off, do not push it down with a screw driver. I have a video of what happens on here somewhere...... and wear safety glasses.


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## silentskream (Sep 20, 2012)

well my first attempt finally dried over the weekend while i was out of town. the parts that were between the plastic bags actually turned out really cool, but it didn't go all the way around.
I like the result, i just need a slightly different approach.


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## kevin242 (Sep 30, 2005)

haha, I've been working with that stuff for almost 10 years and have never gotten any on my face (yuck). I think the key to it is to take your time and do small layers. I try to get the window and door variety as it doesn't expand as much as the standard gaps and cracks kind. Here's a prop I made with great stuff, a half bucky and compressed air:


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## BioHazardCustoms (Aug 5, 2009)

Something else that is fun is when you're working on a project and the little straw flies off. Suddenly you have a 6 inch clump of great stuff on your finger that is growing like The Blob.


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## Buzz (Aug 26, 2011)

BioHazardCustoms said:


> Something else that is fun is when you're working on a project and the little straw flies off. Suddenly you have a 6 inch clump of great stuff on your finger that is growing like The Blob.


Oh, Jordy Verrill, you lunkhead!

_j/k :jol:
_


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