Fabric plaster is used to make casts for broken bones.
Fabric plaster is a versatile material used in medicine, art and architecture. It is made of a loosely woven preshrunk cotton, such as cotton gauze, which is infused with plaster of Paris. The resulting material is strong and lightweight; its is flexible until it sets, and then it is rigid.
How It Works
Fabric plaster is available as long stiff strips of cloth about 4 inches to 12 inches wide. When immersed in water for a few seconds, the plaster becomes workable, creating a malleable material that can be shaped in an infinite number of ways. When the plaster dries, which it will begin to do in just a few minutes, the material retains the shape into which you arranged it.
Medical Use
Fabric plaster is what doctors until quite recently used to make plaster casts to support, immobilize and protect broken bones while they healed. The strips of fabric plaster were wetted and applied to the broken limb over a base of cotton batting. The fabric plaster then dried and hardened into a rigid support around the broken bone. Today, plaster casts are often used for a few days and then replaced by fiberglass casts, which are lighter and more comfortable to wear.
Mask-Making
Fabric plaster is used in making face masks or casts of other body parts. Because it is not applied hot like many other cast-making materials, such as melted latex or melted wax, it will not harm the skin. The face is covered by a nontoxic oil, such as baby or olive oil, so the fabric plaster does not stick to the skin. Two straws are inserted into the nostrils so the subject can breathe, then strips of wetted fabric plaster are placed over the face. When the strips dry, the result is a mask of the face.
Free-Form Sculpture
Artists also use fabric plaster to make free-form sculptures. They wet the material, arrange it over supports such as wire armatures, and let it dry. Supports also can be pieces of wood, clothespins, plastic bowls, dowels, fasteners such as nails or anything sturdy enough to hold the wet fabric plaster in place. Monta Gael May and Julilana Robles are among the sculptors who use this technique.
Architectural Uses
Architects use fabric plaster featuring a much more tightly woven fabric to create ultra-light partitions, interesting shapes for light shades and other building decor features.
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