InstaMorph Reusable Moldable Plastic | Thermoplastic Beads, Meltable Polymorph Pellets | Lightweight Modeling Compound For DIY Crafts, Sculpting, Cosplay Accessories | Temporarily Repair | White, 12oz

This is a great product and the other reviews focus on its potential uses. I want to offer some suggestions for working with the product. All temps are Fahrenheit.1) Heat water to at least 150 deg. (I usually heat to 160-170 deg. because the water will cool quickly and the hotter the water, the quicker the product softens. I use an instant temperature probe thermometer to check the temperature and I use long surgical tweezers to remove the Instamorph from the water). The instructions say heat to 140-150 degrees and never above 150 degrees, but that is for safety/liability reasons - stating you could be burned if you try to mold the stuff that is too hot. However, the hotter you get it, the longer the working time, and the hotter the water will be if you need to re-emerge the product. So, work with the hottest water you can handle, but BE CAREFUL!!2) Mold product in warm/hot water. As others have stated, the product has a short working time. As soon as you remove it from the heated water it starts to cool, and cool/cold hands don't help. So, take a bucket or container just large enough to be able to mold the material with both hands and fill it up with water that is as warm/hot as you can stand, without hurting yourself. Then, after removing the InstaMorph from the heated water, put it in the bucket and mold it there. This will extend the working time of the product considerably, and it won't take as long to bring it back to pliable temp. once the material cools down.3) If the bucket of water won't work for you, at least warm your hands before working with the softened product. Run warm water over your hands or hold something warm prior to removing the product from the heated water to help extend the working time.4) Heat the tools or working surface. If you are going to use tools to shape or sculpt the material, put the tools in warm/hot water. Also, if you are using a plate or some other surface that transfers heat as a base for shaping the material, place it in hot water or heat it some other way. Pressing your item against a cool plate to give it a flat surface will cause it to cool and harden quicker. However, if you want to flatten something and have it set quickly, do not use this tip.5) You can use a hair dryer to soften all or part of the product. You may find that you have created something that is close to what you want, but only the edges need to be changed/softened. Take a hair dryer and using warm or hot air point it at the area you want to change. You will see the area you are heating start to go from white to clear. When the area you want is clear, just shape it how you want. This will allow you to fix part of the item without softening the whole thing, and gives you an alternative when you can't put the Instamorph back in water. Also, this is great for softening rough edges.6) Inversely, you can use cold water to harden the created item quickly. You might not want to wait for the Instamorph to harden every time you work with it - especially if you are making small changes to the edges repeatedly. If you have the shape you want, and you don't have to worry about exposure to water, simply run cold tap water over your creation and it will harden very quickly.7) Adding the color chips (sold separately) makes the product harder, and harder to work with, and usually requires using slightly higher temperatures to work with and for softening. However, adding color is advantageous if you are going to be using the created item in an area where the heat comes close to the softening point of uncolored Instamorph because it raises the softening/melting point, and creates a harder overall product.Like I said, this is great product. Finding ways to extend the molding time just makes it that much easier to work with. I discovered these tips through trial and error. If you know of other ways to help others improve the working time, please comment on this, or post your own review. I hope this has been helpful.

This is a pretty amazing product. I just used it to replace the tread on 4 luggage wheels for which I could not find replacement wheels. I put some in a bowl of water in the microwave on high for 2 minutes. It turned from white to clear and was then easily moldable. I made a mold for the wheels to keep them round, attached a strip of InstaMorph to the back side then forced the wheel into the mold to keep it round. Then, I added more product in strips and pressed it hard into the mold atop the first layer. If the prior layer was losing its clarity or not melding with the next layer, a quick pass with a heat gun softened it and turned it clear again, then it was easily molded again. Once it turned white, it was hard and ready for minor trimming. Easy as pie. A little goes a long way. It is a bit pricey but it beat tossing out a perfectly good piece of luggage. The product does not stick to nytril gloves, which can also protect hands from the hot procduct.

I have a automated cat teaser. It's like a little remote control car, in the shape of a cat and it has a wand on it's head that randomly whips around in circles dangling a toy at the end. The idea is you control it, move it close to your cat and stop, and kitty goes wild on the wand and toy. Kitty did go wild on the wand, too wild and the wand broke. My search to find a replacement part was fruitless. The company went out of business.In steps instamorph. Brewed a cup of water in my keurig, put in a tablespoon of pellets, and 5 minutes of working the putty like plastic and I had fashioned a new wand for the cat teaser. Once it cooled the plastic is flexible, resilient, and perfect for my needs. The consistency of it reminds me a lot of vinyl plastic. IE it's relatively soft, but very strong. It's not stiff enough for some applications like making a suspension arm for an RC car, or anything where the plastic can't bend, but it's very tough. IT wants to give under strain rather than crack or splinter. It looks to be very durable stuff and of course you can just heat it back up if you need to fix it.I sat around trying to find uses for it. Some of the ones I came up with were fixing the insulation on my iphone cable which was pulling out of the plug. I also fixed my LayZBoy couch. There was a plastic wheel that made the recliner operate smoothly that broke. I simply made what looked like a roller skate wheel out of the instamorph and pressed it onto the axle for the recliner while it was hot enough to change shape. Then I let it cool and bingo, my recliner opens smoothly again instead of getting stuck.I wanted to use it to make parts for my aging Losi RC cars but I just don't think it would be stiff enough. The parts I need to make need to be very stiff.

Definitely a good inexpensive alternative to worbla. I made everything in the picture collage (except the chains) out of one 12 oz container of this stuff, in addition to a few sets of vampire fangs and a couple of pendants. There's not a lot that hasn't been covered re: how to get the best results, but personally my advice is just .. work fast and don't be afraid to totally start over. It also takes a coat of paint, which I was worried about, and doesn't melt in the sun (granted, I'm located in the midwest, but it was fine here). It's pretty strong and it smoothes out nicely. I've also heard that you can use this stuff to make worbla, so I'm definitely going to buy some more and give it a shot. Even if it doesn't work, though, this stuff is super useful and very easy to make things with. Just be aware that it's definitely going to take some work. It might mold instantly, but how it comes out is all up to your sculpting abilities.