Silly String
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Silly String is a child's toy: a flexible, brightly-colored plastic string, which is shot as a stream of liquid from an aerosol can. The string sets quickly in mid-air, allowing one to shoot a seemingly-endless strand of it. Silly String is popular for usage during weddings, birthday parties, school carnivals and other festive occasions.
Silly String was introduced in 1972 as a United States Patent for a "foamable resinous composition" by Robert P. Cox and Leonard A. Fish. It is polymer-based, likely on a polystyrene or methacrylate, dissolved in a CFC-based solvent that evaporates in the air and acts as a foaming agent. The pressure in the can propels the mixture a short distance of up to 10 feet. Some other alleged ingredients are a small amount of isopropyl alcohol, and plasticizers like dibutyl phthalate.
String was produced by Wham-O prior in a range of colors, but in 1997, the rights were sold to Just for Kicks. The registration can be found on the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office website www.USPTO.gov under registration number 2491028. A patent search also reveals 3705669 as being relevant.
The can is advertised to contain "over 400 feet of string". One measurement has shown over 1600 feet [1]. For a 3.5 oz can, this equals 200 milligrams per meter.
Similar toys are Streamer String, Wacky String, and Nickelodeon Smatter.
Silly String is also occasionally sold as "webbing fluid" in Spider-Man costumes.
Silly String has been banned in the city of Marlborough, Massachusetts and a number of other places, and also at some public gatherings and events.
Contents |
[edit] Safety
The composition of Silly String is fairly safe. But the evaporating fluorocarbon can be quite cold, theoretically capable of causing frostbite. The mixture is a weak skin irritant. The solvent is somewhat flammable, although the solidified string is said to be flame-resistant. The flammability of Silly String as it comes out of the can has been highlighted in several home videos of Silly String sprayed near birthday cakes with lit candles, causing small but frightening fires. Users of the product should take care not to spray it near an open flame.
In December 2006, Tween Brands, Inc., a retailer of girls' clothing and accessories, was fined $109,800 by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for "allegedly distributing canned confetti string damaging to the ozone." EPA said the product marketed under various names by the retailer damages the stratospheric ozone layer. The production and use of chemicals harmful to that layer is controlled by US federal law.[2] [3]
[edit] Staining
Children love to spray Silly String on other children's clothing, especially shirts. It usually comes off if wiped.
But if it is sprayed from a very close distance(1-2 feet) onto fabric, it stains and leaves a bright spot of either color ink or foam from the string. It can permanently stain and partly dissolve some varieties of vinyl wallpaper. It has also been seen to occasionally permanently mark or remove paint from cars.
[edit] Military use
Silly String and similar products have long been used by American and British forces to detect tripwires for explosive booby traps. To use it in this manner, the soldier stands in the doorway and sprays the material over the suspect area. If the string falls to the ground there are no tripwires. However, if there is a tripwire, the string will be suspended in the air without pulling the wire.[4][5][6][7] As of 2006 it is being used by U.S. troops in Iraq for this purpose.[8][9][10]
