The Difference between Smoothfoam shapes & STYROFOAM® Brand Foam

Sometimes Smoothfoam is not the right product for your intended project.  Hopefully this page will help you decide which product will work best for your needs.

Painting

STYROFOAM® Brand Foam painting instructions include:

For thorough coverage, try a stiff stencil brush and gently "scrub" the surface with the paint. Or, place the foam shape and paint in a zip-top plastic bag, seal the bag, and rotate shape until it's completely covered. Remove from bag with pick and let dry. (excerpt taken from The Dow Chemical web site)

Smoothfoam can also be painted.  Smoothfoam paints like wood, due to its smooth surface.  So the use of fine detail brushes and other decorative painting tools work well.  Water based acrylics which are readily available in a multitude of colors and styles work great on Smoothfoam.

Both Smoothfoam and STYROFOAM® Brand Foam can also be spray painted, however because both are a plastic material, they are both susceptible to solvents in some spray paints.  Look for spray paints designed for plastics or model building such as Testor brand spray paints.  Always use light coatings to avoid the solvents attacking the plastic material.

Pinning

Smoothfoam is a closed cell dense foam product.  It works extremely well for any project requiring pinning or glues.  In fact you may have some old beaded Christmas ornaments your grandmother made in you Christmas ornament collection. 

Floral

STYROFOAM® Brand Foam shines in projects requiring the insertion of flowers, pipe cleaners and so on.

Sanding  

Both can be sanded down.  Smoothfoam will be smooth, STYROFOAM® Brand Foam will remain coarse.

Cutting

Both Smoothfoam and STYROFOAM® Brand Foam can be cut using a number of different tools.  Knives, razor blades, hot wires, band saws, etc.

Durability

Because of the smooth closed cell nature of Smoothfoam, it will last for years.  If dropped, Smoothfoam will not break. 

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