PolySense
PolySense is the in-situ polymerization for electrical functionality of any fibrous or porous material. This process can make pressure, stretch, capacitive touch, humidity or temperature sensors out of any soft material. To do this you need pyrrole and iron chloride and some sort of mixer. These are the basic steps:
Add water to mixer
Measure and add monomer
Add the fabric and mix for 10 minutes
Measure and add oxidizing agent
Mix for 30-45 minutes
Dry the fabric
The PolySense group have experimented with shiburi (tie-dye), weaving, and batik (wax resist) to create different electrical results. The questions I have for Cedric Honnet are:
How do you know what quantity of solution/water you need for a certain amount of material?
How do different materials and soak time affect the final electrical properties of the polymerized material?
Soft Material Store
Oh Michael, Michael, Michael … this store is like a clingy boyfriend I keep going back to; it finds me no matter what city I move to! It is a little bit of a cop out that I went to Michaels craft store to explore soft materials. I grew up going to my local Michaels as a little kid for sticker shopping with my mom and picking up little craft kits. Nowadays, I’m there regularly to grab supplies for my more “grown-up” projects (though I still love sparkly stickers). I know the store and their inventory pretty well and that there would be so many soft materials to check out. Not sure they’re the “outside-of-the-box” soft materials but here are the ones I found most compelling:
Me and MIchael
Tulle - texture, layering, netting, whimsical/airy feel
Fake grass - immediately I think of making dioramas or scenes for minatures
Sherpa - soooo soft, sensory, comforting, I wonder what you could do with dyeing it or cutting it into weird shapes
Burlap - natural, grainy, fibrous
Fabric flowers
Styrofoam - I guess this kinda doesn’t count as soft, but there’s something about the weight of styrofoam that gives it it’s softness?!
Faux fur - I love these crazy colors
Wax - not sure if this counts as a soft material… it can be melted to a liquid (does that even count as soft?!) and reshaped into anything!
Craft clay - starts soft, can literally form it to any shape using your hands, baked and hardens
Squishmallow - these really have the softest, squishiest texture, no idea what you would make with these…
Fabric butterflies - just cute