Anti-Slip/Skid

ACTSTech

Well-Known Member
So I was dialed up because of an accident and asked for advice (I have LOTS of experience in accidents, usually I cause them, but this time I wasn't involved!)

A community theater did a show and had a little girl who had been tap dancing slip and fall and crash into the side of a flat. Other than a bruised arm and ego, she's fine. The theater put hardboard down and then painted the flooring for the show with acrylic paints. The issue was the taps on the acrylic paint and hardboard and the TD asked if I had suggestions. I thought for sure Rosco made a clear-coat but I can't find it anywhere. Anyone with some quick suggestions?
 
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Find a Janitorial supply in your area. There are several products manufactured for maintenance of Vinyl tile flooring which provide a clear or low gloss finish. They can me applied with a mop and removed with a water/ ammonia cleaning solution just like other mop-on floor finishes. Be aware that if they painted the floor with Acrylics striping the finish from the floor with ammonia may also affect the acrylic paint. I'd give you a name but there are a billion of them out there and some are only available regionally. Ask the Janitorial supply, they'll help you out. Just be sure you tell them what you are doing. You don't want gallons of non-removable, or something with grit in it.
 
"Native" marley in a bottle - 1.5 litres of sugary soda beverage (we used 7-Up) in a full mop bucket of clear water, and mop the stage with it. If it's too sticky use less sugary soda beverage; remedy an existing application with a damp mop.

Now for my little rant, and it's about the balance of art, craft, and safety. Whoever decided to paint the floor with a substance that makes it *dangerous to the talent* (and the rest of us, but that's another discussion) should be reprimanded. It was THEIR CHOICE of materials that arguably resulted in this dancer's injuries. And in true "craft" tradition, fixing the designer/artiste's problem becomes OUR problem, and as the 'last person to touch it', any further or future injury in this production will be the fault of the craftsperson(s).

Bah AND humbug.
 
"Native" marley in a bottle - 1.5 litres of sugary soda beverage (we used 7-Up) in a full mop bucket of clear water, and mop the stage with it. If it's too sticky use less sugary soda beverage; remedy an existing application with a damp mop.

Now for my little rant, and it's about the balance of art, craft, and safety. Whoever decided to paint the floor with a substance that makes it *dangerous to the talent* (and the rest of us, but that's another discussion) should be reprimanded. It was THEIR CHOICE of materials that arguably resulted in this dancer's injuries. And in true "craft" tradition, fixing the designer/artiste's problem becomes OUR problem, and as the 'last person to touch it', any further or future injury in this production will be the fault of the craftsperson(s).

Bah AND humbug.
While "coking" a dancefloor is a workable solution on a Marley floor you want more grip on, I don't know that it would wear that well on a stage floor. I went round and round on this topic for years before finally finding a non-slip floor treatment that would last, didn't pick up every piece of lint and attract flies.

BTW, If you want a super shiny semi-non-skid surface, Future Floor polish is your friend. Mop on. can be removed with Ammonia <or windex for spot cleaning and recovering> and it's durable. Not as Non-skid as the proffesional stuff but great is you want a super shine. <great on black floors. >
 
Harlequin dance flooring? There's a clue in the product name ;)
Wouldn't have mattered if they painted it anyway. I asked if they had marley, which they did, but the artistic director's "vision" wasn't a black stage, it was a painted cobblestone street.

And @TimMc I asked if they "coked" the floor, which they didn't, because they mop the deck prior to the show so that when the actors sit on the floor or roll on the floor or whatever it is that actors do (which ISN'T finding the light, hitting their spot, or knowing their lines), they didn't want the costumes to be dirty...

I see more and more productions where the deck is painted and I wonder how that's going to play out with dance. A million years ago, I wasn't allowed to do anything more than paint spacing numbers at the plaster line for the dancers. I saw a production of Evita that painted their Marley and the dancers didn't look very confident in the white sections at all. Tap doesn't work well on some vinyl flooring, and it chews up what's there. Some of the hip hop and jazz I've seen where the dancers slide wouldn't work as well if the deck has grit or grip.

Thanks for the suggestions everyone, I'll pass them on.
 
Wouldn't have mattered if they painted it anyway. I asked if they had marley, which they did, but the artistic director's "vision" wasn't a black stage, it was a painted cobblestone street.

And @TimMc I asked if they "coked" the floor, which they didn't, because they mop the deck prior to the show so that when the actors sit on the floor or roll on the floor or whatever it is that actors do (which ISN'T finding the light, hitting their spot, or knowing their lines), THEY didn't want the costumes to be dirty...

I see more and more productions where the deck is painted and I wonder how that's going to play out with dance. A million years ago, I wasn't allowed to do anything more than paint spacing numbers at the plaster line for the dancers. I saw a production of Evita that painted their Marley and the dancers didn't look very confident in the white sections at all. Tap doesn't work well on some vinyl flooring, and it chews up what's there. Some of the hip hop and jazz I've seen where the dancers slide wouldn't work as well if the deck has grit or grip.

Thanks for the suggestions everyone, I'll pass them on.
Not wearing their costumes ought to keep them pristine.
Toodleoo!
Ron Hebbard
 
I noticed that slip-no-mor wasn't mentioned in this thread, so I wanted to drop the link. We use it for just about every dance-heavy show we do - about 3 good glugs into a mop bucket once every 3 or 4 moppings is our starting point.

 

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