Help and advice needed

[secookie]

Hi All

I've got the house to myself in a couple of weeks for a whole weekend and am hoping to get really messy for the first time. I've tried some modest things with food but not really got messy before.

Does anyone have any suggestions of what I could try or things I could do which would be fun?

I enjoy using food but I'm also thinking of trying paint and clay - any suggestions / advice.

I've also got some very cool pvc clothes - are they likely to come clean or will they get wrecked even by the food?

Many thanks in advance for everyone's help.

Simon
Shrewsbury

[Hayley]

First of all, the clothes shouldn't be wrecked by the food so long as you wash them fairly quickly afterwards.

Be careful with paint, even poster paint can stain, and emulsion is a nightmare to clean up (some are also full of nasty chemicals). Why not get some Natrasol off the net (sold as 'gunge'). Messy to play in but easy to clean up.

If getting clay, buy the powdered stuff from a craft shop and mix with warm water. Dead easy to clean up and feels fab.

Anyone else got any suggestions?

Hayley

[secookie]

Thanks for the advice Hayley - very much appreciated.

Not sure about the paint - got some of the ready mixed kids paint - is this likely to be ok to use? or does it depends on how advernterous I'm feeling!

Clay - is the clay you can get from toy shops safe? Having known people who have used it to make models with their kids, they always tell me how it gets runny when they leave it in the water ! I've seen powdered clay on the internet but don't really want the sort of quantities they sell (the minimum I've found is 25kg! - certainly not as this will be a first go!).

Thanks again.

Simon

[googuy]

I like to use the clothes I've had on that day or been out in so your

thinking about messy all day long.

And it saves time getting changed of course

Don't mix things like flour and eggs to much

As I've you end up with dough like slime stuck to the hair on my legs

and other bits and it take ages to get off.

[TottyMcGee]

Paint - the trick is to get kids' poster paint (the sort that comes in squidgy bottles for a quid a time) and to mix in a bit of washing up liquid or other liquid soap before you start. This makes it much easier to clean up ('cause it can't settle). This works with all sorts of gunge recipes too, though it obviously affects the taste and edibility of messy food should you use it in that instance.

I got this tip from a post way back when from the late, great Rob Blaine, and it's one of the most useful WAM tips I've ever had, it's stood by me for years.

Oh, and don't use flour, cleaning up after a flour scene is like trying to clean up anthrax. You think you've got it all out, then the next morning the hairs all over your body have all fused together.

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[stockingman]

I think Ready Brek makes a great mess or the supermarkets own brand and its cheap! Add some food colouring and away u go mix it well to avoid lumps. One big box makes almost a full bucket.

[secookie]

Many thanks everyone for the advice - plenty to think about.

On a similar thought, I've got a great pair of pvc boots. Does anyone know if they will be wrecked if I get them messy (particularly if the inside gets wet?). I assume the outside should be ok.

Many thanks

Simon

[Hayley]

Depends what you use. Getting them wet isn't a prob as they dry out, but food needs to be thoroughly washed out. Even then they may whiff a bit!

Hayley

[secookie]

Thanks Hayley - sorry if I sound a bit thick about this !!

[Spinynorman and Frilly]

Depends what you use. Getting them wet isn't a prob as they dry out, but food needs to be thoroughly washed out. Even then they may whiff a bit!

Hayley

This can be a real problem even when you are just talking about skin. It's one thing getting clean but it's sometimes really hard to get "smelly" clean. Especially if the stuff has gone up your nose!

[Hayley]

That's because the smell lodges in your nose. Consequently you think you still smell when you don't.

Hayley

[the bulber]

Try telling that to a pair of polyester track suit trousers.
Mrs Bulber did one of her spontaneous attacks with squirty cream and the smell took a number of washes to get out of the waste band.

[Hayley]

I was talking about skin cos that's what we were discusiing.

Besides, anyone who wears polyester trackie bottoms deserves everything he gets. Throw them away, they are disgusting - and thats before they start to smell!

Hayley