I’m not entirely certain if Blick counts as a “big box store,” but that’s where I hunted down potential soft materials this weekend. Some were materials that felt a bit obvious as soft materials, and other items felt that they could be considered within our particular realm of soft things depending on how they were used.
1: Socks
Socks are soft in texture (particularly these), and has some built in elastics. Socks do tend to stretch out over time, but for a while, maintain some tensile elasticity.
2: Rubber Toy
Stretchy, delightful! Has both compressive and tensile elasticity.
3: Rubber Roller
This is technically a combination of both soft and hard materials. I liked the squish of the roller, and I liked its potential as a point of interaction.
4: Felt/Wool
This material can be reshaped into felt structures. It has “squish,”” and somewhat more limited “stretch.”
5: Ribbon
This material is not very elastic, but is quite flexible. It could be used in cable-control projects, and has a nice silkiness.
6: Linoleum Square
I don’t recall encountering linoleum squares like this before, and I kind of loved them! They are not very elastic, but has a really interesting flexibility (a pleasant amount of resistance to force).
7: Dual-toned Sequins
The stretchiness of the dual-toned sequined cloth varies quite a bit from fabric to fabric, but I really enjoy both its the texture and visual effect.
8: Chain
Chains aren’t really soft materials, but they behave like soft materials in how it moves as a whole (rather than its individual links). The whole is flexible, though it is made of rigid parts.
9: Open Weave Muslin
I liked the netting of this fabric – it seems like it would be quite easy to attach other items through its structure. It reminds me of a breadboard!
10: Tape
This feels like a soft classic, like paper or string! Fairly flexible, but not very elastic.
11: Leather
Another soft classic – limited tensile elasticity.
12: String + Yarn
Quite flexible, and elasticity varies quite a bit from string to string. For the materials represented here, most are tougher fibers with limited elasticity.
13: Silicone
Silicone has a really great feel. Julia Rich ran a workshop in which we made silicone copies of our thumbs, and since then, I’ve been really interested in using more silicone in my projects.
