Plast'R Craft 25# Remnant Pack (52740)

I originally purchased this as an inexpensive way to teach new students in life casting how to create mother molds for alginate life casts (faces, specifically), and it works like a charm - at less than half the price of rolled plaster bandage. A bonus is that most of what I've used so far is 6" wide, so it covers a lot of area quickly and easily. Some of the remnants are very porous (little gypsum covering) but given the amount you get for the price, it's a great value. Perfect for my purposes.

I've had not one problem with this plaster-- it's all intact, and softens well in the water. The holes are maybe a bit bigger than with some other brands of plaster, but I've also found it gets softer and more pliable in water than those other brands. I don't have a lot of experience with plaster cloth, so If I try some other brands, I'll post more comparative information. But so far I'm using this with my students and I think it's fabulous! I like that I don't have to worry about running out because there's so much in the box!

The whole point of buying a 'remnant pack' is that you save money on a perfectly fine, usable item just because they're not packaged & sealed perfectly. I got this 25-POUND remnant box for under $15. At that price, absolutely no complaints. Regardless, here are the pros and cons of the product itself:pros:-price compared large amounts of non-remnant plaster strips-Works the same as most other plaster strips -- dip in water and it sticks/smooths out well.-Sandable (to an extent), paintable, buildable-Very easy to work with, for kids(under supervision) or adultscons:-poor packaging (as they're remnants)-- causes a lot of dust/crumbling of plaster off of the gauze in shipping.-A decent amount of 'unplastered' gauze on the rolls, will have to be cut off in order to use (or covered later on)-Uncertainty about size(s) of remnant pieces- as it is a remnant pack. You will get 25 pounds, but it could be in different shapes, lengths, etc. Mine was in 3 huge rolls. From Amazon Warehouse deals.I recommend taking the time to cut the rolls/pieces you get into workable strips of your desired size before you start to work with it. Have all of the strips ready, any extra non-plastered fabric cut off, right in a box or bucket. Way easier to work with, or give to the kids to work on their projects.The remnant pack might not be as neat or store-ready as the other available products, but it's the same exact thing in bulk quantities at a great price. Can't beat it!

The plaster was in pieces with some of the gauze not covered with plaster. I had to trim it before using. Other pieces were damaged.

The plaster was a box of mixed lengths,widths, which was fine for my application, 74 students using it to plaster their newspaper volcanoes. Very dusty, the loose plaster made for messy fun. Many edges were not plaster embedded and required trimming. The material worked well, but there was a huge mess in the classroom with plaster dust all over by day's end. Saved a few $$ buying this remnant pack; just be prepared for a mess.

I bought this product exited by the cheap price to Investigate the medium for the first time. The package arrived on time as promised and I began working with the gauze strips. I was initially impressed with the cut strips of gauze and excited by the work I was doing. But once I got past the initial layer of good strips that we're fully coated with the plaster of Paris, the bulk of the box was filled with gauze that were only covered width plaster for Half to two thirds of the strip. This meant that I had to trim the strips to eliminate the uncovered portions of the gauze. This and the fact that the gauze was not heavily covered with the plaster made working with this product more comber some, frustrating, and slower than it should have been. I have since gotten more strips from another company. This is a 20 lb box through amazon. Given that the shipping was free with AMazon, it came out to be within a few dollars of this product. But because the quality of the gauze is so much better in the other package it is much better value than this product. I do not recommend this package as it is mostly filled with sub quality gauze.

I ordered three boxes. They arrived today. One box was the expected size, the other was a double - pretty big and heavy. No problem though. I opened them right away and started to use the smaller box. I was pleasantly surprised to see that all the pieces were the same size - 6"x48". They were evenly coated in plaster powder. They were neatly piled into the box and enclosed in a plastic bag with a twist tie. I'm sure that future boxes will have different sized pieces but if the quality remains the same, I'll be happy. I'll buy this again.

I use plaster bandages to reinforce lifecasts made in alginate and silicone for special effects makeup appliances. I go through a LOT of them, so to be able to purchase them in bulk at a discounted price is awesome. There was one roll in the box that didn't have a plaster coating on one edge, but given that I coat casts with four layers of bandages and often fold them in the process, this is a non issue for me, as are variable lengths. There's always plenty of plaster to smooth over the fabric. I'll definitely order these again.