There are ways to make long-lasting rollers, and ways that are shorter lived. The best rollers, and long lasting, are made from wool fabric, rolled around a supporting dowel. They need to be just deeper than the length of pins to be used. Thick sections of cotton fabric would be hard to pin into.
To temporarily extend the life of a foam roller, a few rounds of wool on top of the foam should add a bit of time. The pins wouldn't go as far into the foam so it would take longer to break down. However, I think it's more time effective to make a good roller from the start. The super-dense foam used in the UK will last longer than standard styrofoam but not as long as ethafoam used in the USA. However, in the USA I've found some rollers being made from the foam used for swimming pool toys (pool noodles). These don't last any time at all. They are nice for a one-time project, but not for repeated use. Test the wool by making a thick pad and poking it with a pin. The pin should go in easily but be held firmly in place, no wiggling. It's possible to disassemble a roller carefully, remove the outside covering, and replace the inside material. I did it on one roller. I just cut strips from an old wool jacket. I never thought about felting it. It should be a tightly woven wool fabric. Shrinking the wool would make it denser. As long as the wool moths stay out of it, a wool roller should last a life time. Polystyrene develops a hole whenever a pin goes in it. Hundreds of pinholes will break down the surface of the foam. One company who makes foam pillows will put a layer of dust of some sort on the top of the foam, under the cover. The theory is that the dust will filter into the holes and fill them up, at least for a while...thus extending the life of the pillow. The fact of life with polystyrene is that it has a limited working life. When the working surface gets broken down, the pillow needs replaced. There's no way to refurbish it. (I wish the ethafoam pillows were available to everyone. I've been using one for 18 years and it's still going strong. With ethafoam, the holes close up when the pin is pulled out. It takes many years to wear down the working surface.) Life of the roller could be extended a bit by working patterns that have fewer pinholes (Torchon rather than Bucks) so there are fewer holes made per square inch. Also, use different areas of the roller, not always just the very center section. This is a very temporary solution. Have fun with your travel pillow. Alice ----- Original Message ----- From: "Sue" <[email protected]> I have read in the past of the various ways that people help preserve the surface of a roller pillow... this one I would suspect is polystyrene with very light wood ends. I have lots of white cotton fabric I could cut a strip off and wrap around if that would help. What depth would I need to use save the polystyrene from going soft which is what has happened with my block pillows. I think I remember reading about shrinking the fabric first? - To unsubscribe send email to [email protected] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [email protected]. For help, write to [email protected]. Photo site: http://community.webshots.com/user/arachne2003
