Ever since discovering Sugru so many years ago, I’ve become a devoted fan of this great little product. If you’re not familiar with it, it starts out a bit like PlayDoh — you can mold it, roll it, and even mix its basic colors (black, red, blue, yellow, white) to make more colors. But what’s cool about it is that it begins to cure… but not harden. When the curing process is complete (about 24 hours, but you have a solid 30 minutes to mold it and experiment), it not only has a rubbery feel to it, but it also pretty much sticks to anything. This means that it can not only be used to attach different materials together, but it can also be used to mold unique parts, repair broken parts, and hundreds more solutions.
The folks at Sugru are constantly updating their website with new ideas (from their own testing as well as Sugru users) and videos, and they’ve just released a video that is sure to make a geek dad or geek mom smile. Just take a look:
My son wants a computer in his room, and I think we’re close to doing it. How fun is it going to be to help organize the various cables with some of his unused LEGO minifigs? I cannot wait to do this while he’s away and see his face when he comes home!
Another thing… Sugru is a great tool, but one limitation that fans have faced over the years is that it doesn’t have a long shelf life… six months was about it. Sugru has also announced a breakthrough that is going to allow the little packages to last up to 13 months! Over a year! (Keeping Sugru in the fridge has always been a solution to getting a longer life from packets, so I’m not quite sure if storing it cold will extend that 13 months even longer… but let’s hope so.)
I give Sugru away as small gifts to my family and maker friends. You just never know when that little silver package is going to come in handy, but I guarantee you that you WILL find a way to use up every package you purchase. I’m always out! (Note to self: Order more Sugru after using up the last of mine to customize some kid robots with feathers and decorative elements — it’s not conductive and works great for sticking things near circuit boards and solder joints safely.)
If you’d like to see what Sugru users are currently doing with their Sugru, check out the blog — I particularly like the mix of Sugru and Velcro for those of us who aren’t so good at sewing. They’ve also got their famous step-by-step-guides that are sure to give you some ideas.
