Sponges - Half or Quarter?

I've bee bouncing this idea back and forth for a little while now. Currently, I have about 75% half sponges, and the other 25% were cut into quarters. I wanted to see how this would work out because I have limited space in my case (mostly due to the small living space and my fiance (magician) thinks that I need to 'shrink' my setup :/). Since I've been banned from buying any more sponges (tiny addiction), I was thinking of maybe cutting them smaller to still be able to paint each child without reusing any sponges since, you know... sanitation issues. Any opinions?

Lots of people do it.
I never have, but it looks like a good idea.

I no longer use a clean sponge for every child... unless it's a private party. I keep wipes next to my table and tend to give most kids a quick wipe down. In the last year and a half that I have been painting with the dinosaur show, I have only had ONE mother ask if I would use a separate sponge on her child! I have also only had ONE parent ask me (this was just a few weeks ago) how I clean my brushes between children, if I even do at all. I was able to hold up my bottle of Brush Bath and show her what I add to my water. Since it says right on the label that it sanitizes, this is all she wanted to know!

I have not had any reports come back to the show's production company about anyone being dissatisfied with my work, my sanitation methods or anything else. Moreover, the children have made ME sick, I have not made them sick. They are in the bounce houses together, standing in line together, climbing on dinosaurs together and none get a baby wipe on the face after those attractions.

Not having to use a new sponge saves me oodles of time in loading new sponges. I also keep my brushes loaded and ready to go.

This is just my experience and opinion. We have the luxury to do this in the USA...in Canada, they must follow stringent guidelines.

Feel free to comment or ask me questions regarding this.

I have to use new sponges because I live in Alberta. it is what it is

I use quarters for some designs and halves for others, depending on what I am trying to sponge.

I don't use half sponges, I think they are too big, I cut my sponges in 3, so I have 1 long and 2 small ones, I can even use the small with the split cakes, since I bought the wicker sponges, or petal sponges they are the only ones I want to use.

i just use half sponges. I have LOADS of them, and keep extra in the car. Been thinking of making some quarter sponges for things like stencils, or other things that i don't need a full sponge for.

Forest-Fairy wrote:i just use half sponges. I have LOADS of them, and keep extra in the car. Been thinking of making some quarter sponges for things like stencils, or other things that i don't need a full sponge for.

I never thought about that... That's a great idea!!!

I do use quarter sponger for dabbing, mottling, blending, shading, fur strokes, blotting and stencils (although I more often use dry powders for stenciling and apply with a lollipop dauber).

You can never have too many sponges! bah ha ha ha!

The full ones are better for faster applications, if you cut them into quarters for full face applications i think it would slow you down some.

But quarters seem like a good idea to me for stencil use. Canada day is coming up and it looks like I'll be working beside volunteers this year. So I'm going to make some extra maple leaves and give the volunteers some quarter sponges. They can take care of all the maple leaf requests.

Suppose i could make more for blending and smaller things too.

How's it going with the dyed black sponges everybody? Remember last summer's big topic about dying sponges black. Have they remained good-looking sponges a year later? Have they faded and gone all stainy-looking again? Did anyone notice their white turning gray when loading it onto the sponge? Just curious. I never got around to doing it, though my obsessive-neat-display-loving nature sure does wish those sponges looked better.

Dearest JJJJJ:
Yes... my black sponges faded. There was a teeny, weeny, eentsy bit of grayness (autocorrected me to gayness) to my white colour. It was not enough to put me off redying my sponges black again. In the beginning, I purchased the wrong black from my local drug store. My sponges were gray, and they washed right out. I bought some RIT dye... and it was excellent. I rinsed the sponges out in cold vinegar water to "set" them.
My set-up for face painting is black. Black towels, black table cloths (really, they are black bed sheets.) I started off with happy RED everything, but there are too many shades of red. I feel more professional with all the black. I have heard that black will make my butt appear smaller.
And that is why I really like the black sponges.

xoxox

My sponges remain dyed.... but instead of all black - they are now 50 shades of gray.

Fessy - your butt is d*mn near perfect and I wish I could steal it right off your backside.

My sponges are fifty shades of everything! I don't have a perfect butt but it is clothed in black at all my gigs.

My black sponges faded to gray and I haven't redyed them yet.

I use 1/2 sponges for nearly everything, but I do have a few variations in shape. For stencils, I just use the "back" of the sponge, the rounded edge, instead of the cut face. I used to have a few 1/4s but I just didn't find myself reaching for them. Also, the 1/2 sponge means I get less paint on my hands, and thus, fewer pinky smears while doing linework.

My butt isn't so bad, but let's not mention the midsection! Oy!
I used 1/4 sponges for coverage on solid colored faces, until I discovered Starblends. Worked like a charm for covering large areas!

I mostly use brushes...but when I do use sponges, I like the 1/2 size....less messy.
I do a lot of parties and events where they want the quicker and smaller designs. Sponges slow me down.
As for my butt...I like it the way it is...cute and dainty...

I remember when I saw that thread about the black sponges, I loved the idea and I remember my reaction was much like this


I waited for my next shipment of sponges to arrive and then i died all of them! Having dyed things many times before I knew dollar store dye wasn't going to cut it, so I used RIT, it really is the best stuff out there.

They haven't faded yet a few months in and are still as black as ever. I LOVE them, it makes my set up feel more professional and way less dirty. I HATED those stained sponges, it made it look like i was working with dirty tools. Not cool.

But as long as you use a high quality fabric dye, they shouldn't fade too much. But like all colored clothing that you wash over and over they will start to fade eventually, and you can just redye them.

My butt is humungous.... and dimpled enough to resemble a sponge.    

I use both half and quarter sponges. I find they work well for stencils and stippling over colours

Dear Miss Ronnie:
Keep dying the sponges!
They DO make my butt look smaller.

xoxo

I almost always use 1/4 sponges. I use 1/2 sponges for butterflies only. For smaller split cakes I use a wide brush.

I dyed my sponges, use them all the time and they hardly faded...maybe not quite as black as at first but still very black, not grey. But when I dyed them I actually used 2 packs of the RIT dye in the boiling water, not 1 pack. So maybe that's why. At first it greyed the white ever so slightly but after some washings that stopped. I did set them in the vinegar after dying. I've been very happy with the black dyed sponges, plan to do it again with my new sponges.