A use for old gels

snarefire

Member
What do you guys like to do with your old gels? Aside from tossing them away there has to be more creative uses. Lets list them out
 
I made a big pair of stained-glass windows out of old gel and leccy tape - took forever but they looked cool! We don't re-use gel much, and so our stash of cut colour is often still in good condition - occasionally schools will come through and take what's useful for them if they're a bit short on budget.
 
Pieces that look pretty good go into my scrap box, and pieces where I can cut parts off also go in there. If I want a specific look like a flame split gel, or whatnot, I will go in and cut them up for that without using good gel. Other options include making PAR16 cuts out of corners, or taping them to your glasses to look either ridiculous or unable to see who your talking to during the cast party, depending on level of inebriation and illumination. Get lots and lots of little pieces, and tape them to the inside of the florescent fixture in your dorm room, making it pretty colors and your room great for other college activities (dorm game night, late night pizza eating, etc). Do the entire hall in festive holiday colors. Make your window stained glass like in your dorm room or house. Cut a bunch of small animal shapes out, and hang them from your ceiling. Work it into other art and craft projects. If you can get enough small little rectangles, make a really crazy wall covering, sort of like a tapestry. See if you can make it correct on the spectrum for additional enjoyment. Hang with 100% fullness, 50% if you dont have a lot of gel.
 
Acting classes love them for masks and puppetry. I've donated them to the art department before as well for similar projects.
 
1) If it has any useful life left, consider donating to a local high school. Many public school drama programs can't afford gel and use it until it turns clear. Others can afford a very basic stock but can't afford to keep a wide variety of colors.

2) The manufacturers have been hit really hard in recent years by people who are into crafts (especially the fancy scrapbook makers). If you've paid close attention you'll notice it's a little harder to get free swatch books than it used to be. That's because the scrapbook nuts found out about them and gobble them up for projects. I bet your local craft shop/scrapbook shop would be happy to take your old gel off your hands and give it away to their customers.
 
i happen to be one of those highschool theatre techs with no money. i happen to also volunteer at a community theatre with a very good budget and so over half of my schools gel stock is from them. when they use it for two maybe three shows and decide that it is dead it has at least another five shows at my high school.
 
Most of what I would do has been said: cut into smaller cuts, split gels, donate. The only thing I would add is to save all used blue gels for running lights, if your theater needs that sort of thing.
 
i happen to be one of those highschool theatre techs with no money. i happen to also volunteer at a community theatre with a very good budget and so over half of my schools gel stock is from them. when they use it for two maybe three shows and decide that it is dead it has at least another five shows at my high school.

Only five shows? When I was teaching high school I had the budget to change gel about once every other year. Hang in there Nate you'll love college and doing tech with a real budget.
 
Thanks for all the wonderful ideas guys, i hadnt thought of donating them. Though in my area i doubt it would do help anyone any. Im from fairfax va, one of the richest countys in the states, the schools actually have newer equipment then the college i attend. I think they just got a brand new lightboard the last one was only 4-5 years old........

Now i did come across someone attempting to use congo blue, and basic red to make an infrared filter, which could then be taped onto glasses, add some infrared leds and presto infrared goggles. Any thoughts?
 
Thanks for all the wonderful ideas guys, i hadnt thought of donating them. Though in my area i doubt it would do help anyone any. Im from fairfax va, one of the richest countys in the states, the schools actually have newer equipment then the college i attend. I think they just got a brand new lightboard the last one was only 4-5 years old........

Now i did come across someone attempting to use congo blue, and basic red to make an infrared filter, which could then be taped onto glasses, add some infrared leds and presto infrared goggles. Any thoughts?

Not really. You cant see into the IR spectrum anyhow, so illuminating with IR LEDs and cutting all but IR light just means you cant see the light hitting your eyes. You need a special camera (or a cheap black and white CCTV camera, incedently) in order to actually achieve IR vision. However, if your interested in tactical applications for this, its still a poor idea. True IR goggles that military type units use dont even use active IR illumination, and have light intensifier tubes that intensify starlight, moonlight, etc.
 
Only five shows? When I was teaching high school I had the budget to change gel about once every other year. Hang in there Nate you'll love college and doing tech with a real budget.
oh i do love tech on a real budget, i work calls at alot of smaller houses around were i am. some of which have wonderful spaces/budgets. the best by far though is the one that i mentioned giving me gel and it's "in the round" so even more fun.

PS. five shows is a two and a half years, we only gel for drama board shows, not all of the time. that number is for R02 and R372, (our area washes) everything else is much longer than that.
 
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I don't see any reason to get rid of cut color unless it is burned out or faded. I save every cut of color from every show that meets those criteria. So, I have a large filing system where we store cut color and uncut sheets. When I get the paperwork for a new show we pull color from stock first and then buy what we need to complete the show. This saves quite a bit of money.

You have to consider that there are colors that are not worth saving like deep blues that tend to fade quickly. However, I see no reason for a school, community, or regional theatre to just toss color after every show. it may be a consumable, but not every cut is single use.
 
I don't see any reason to get rid of cut color unless it is burned out or faded. I save every cut of color from every show that meets those criteria. So, I have a large filing system where we store cut color and uncut sheets. When I get the paperwork for a new show we pull color from stock first and then buy what we need to complete the show. This saves quite a bit of money.

You have to consider that there are colors that are not worth saving like deep blues that tend to fade quickly. However, I see no reason for a school, community, or regional theatre to just toss color after every show. it may be a consumable, but not every cut is single use.

Wouldn't believe my gel files. No I don't have a Rx #25 as came up recently in me sitting on a ladder with my smallest and most complete of them. Easy to get from stock if really wanted but this is a 3.5" gel file in sizing gel and even saving scrap. One gel file per size of gel used.

I remember a pre-EBay system of selling off goods where at times people would sell off their gel files for lots of money. Suppose it would depend on the size of the gel and not just how complete it is but how many in many colors were within it to be of value.

Not clear about what your scrap gel is? Are you saying gel gets one show and is fresh cut for the next one? If that's the case, I cannot see a less efficient way of using gel. I work for a multi-million dollar lighting company and even we store and re-use our pre-cut gel. Why waste such money if that's what you are saying about what to do with old gel.... re-use it the answer unless toast.
 
Wouldn't believe my gel files. No I don't have a Rx #25 as came up recently in me sitting on a ladder with my smallest and most complete of them. Easy to get from stock if really wanted but this is a 3.5" gel file in sizing gel and even saving scrap. One gel file per size of gel used.

I remember a pre-EBay system of selling off goods where at times people would sell off their gel files for lots of money. Suppose it would depend on the size of the gel and not just how complete it is but how many in many colors were within it to be of value.

Not clear about what your scrap gel is? Are you saying gel gets one show and is fresh cut for the next one? If that's the case, I cannot see a less efficient way of using gel. I work for a multi-million dollar lighting company and even we store and re-use our pre-cut gel. Why waste such money if that's what you are saying about what to do with old gel.... re-use it the answer unless toast.

Agreed... no reason to bin gel unless it's faded/ otherwise not usable... even if so artsy types like it. I use gel till it starts to fade a wee bit then it goes in a pile that my friends use for decorating for parties/ random projects/ ect which periodically gets donated to schools when it grows too big and/or someone asks for gel.
 
For me personally, with burnt out PAR64 gels I cut out the good parts (usually everything but a little circle in the center.) and put them on the lights in my room. My room is now a nice blueish color.
 
I remember a pre-EBay system of selling off goods where at times people would sell off their gel files for lots of money. Suppose it would depend on the size of the gel and not just how complete it is but how many in many colors were within it to be of value.

I got all my gel off ebay. While it wasn't a ton, and it had to be sorted and filed, it was well worth the $25 I paid for it. Looking back I realize I have spend more on file folders and boxes then I did on the actual gel.

The issue I have with old gel is that as it fades it becomes more difficult to identify.
 
In our highschool I keep most of them, and when we do musicals, we gel the little lights that the orchestra uses over their sheet music.

This is what we tend to do seeing as how a lot of our contract guys have bright desk lamps (A little red gel clears them of this deed)

The other thing I might suggest is what I did with the majority of our Reds, Yellows, Oranges is to donate them to the prop department. I have used them quite a few times to make stage fires with a little battery powered light under them and some hotglued twigs. Makes for a real nice fire in the slums ;)
 

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