Most arm and rod puppets are built on a base of open-cell foam, such as upholstery foam. However, most puppets will use different types of foams for different effects.
Among the various foams used for puppet building are:
- Open-cell upholstery foam aka Urethane Foam
- Super soft foam
- Reticulated foam
- EVA or closed-cell foam L-200
- 1/2″ Cloth Backed Sew Foam
- Cross-linked polyethylene foam
- Latex Foam
- Foam Blocks
- Craft Foam
There are lots of different foams to choose from, each with their own properties, characteristics and uses.
Table of Contents
Open-cell Upholstery Foam
The most basic and common foam in puppet building is polyfoam or open-cell upholstery foam. When people say, “foam,” this is what they think of. It’s sometimes called mattress foam.
You can find it at your craft store or fabric store. It is sometimes blue, sometimes green and sometimes in natural colors. Because it’s lightweight and inexpensive, it is ideal for puppet mockups, but it’s not really great for a final product.
POLY FOAM FOR PUPPET BUILDING
- 1/2″ Foam This is the foam I use most often for heads, arms and hands. 1/2″ PUPPET FOAM
- 1″ Foam – perfect for bodies and larger puppets. 1″ PUPPET FOAM
Super Soft Foam
The next foam is commonly referred to as super soft. The reason why is because it’s very, very soft, very spongy, very supple, and because of that, it’s not great for your heads or your bodies or that type of construction, but it’s really great for small detail items.
You may want to carve your puppet’s tongue out of this. If you want a very flexible mouth, you can use it around the mouth.
You can carve a nose or eyelids and other detail items out of super soft. Anything where the soft quality is beneficial.
Reticulated Foam aka Muppet Foam
Reticulated foam is sometimes called Muppet foam. It is also known as Scott Foam. In the real world, this foam is used for outdoor furniture and the qualities that it has actually makes it perfect for puppet construction.
It is flexible, it’s durable, and it wicks away moisture. Reticulated foam has some open cells. It is spongy foams like polyfoams. This foam is best for your puppet heads.
You can also use it for your puppet body, if you’re going to add some boning. It can be used for hands and arms.
EVA or closed-cell foam L-200
The closed cell foam that I use is commonly referred to as L-200. The reason it is called a closed cell foam is unlike the other foams, it is not like a sponge at all. It looks more like a marshmallow.
This can come in blocks and sheets and this is great for puppet bodies because it is very light. It is very sturdy. It is used in cosplay costumes, because it is lightweight and sturdy.
EVA foam is firm, but will give when pressed down on. It quickly returns to its shape. Used in kneepads and gym mats, I like it for carving noses and making ears.
EVA foam is soft enough that it can be shaped a little by hand. You can work in a curve for your ears, yet have a solid shape.
Also for larger things that you might be making, I would consider using L-200 especially if you don’t want to get into a whole lot of structure and boning and things to support a softer foam.
It’s not great for puppet heads or things that you want to be very flexible. So if your puppet body needs to be very flexible, you might consider using a softer foam. But if you want that strength and the rigidity, L 200 might be the way to go.
Crosslinked Polyethylene Foam
EVA is a closed cell foam, but it is a little softer than Cross-linked polyethylene foam. Crosslinked Polyethylene is very rigid foam with no give to it. It is used in motorcyle helmets.
Crosslinked Polyethylene can be used for puppet parts where strength and rigidity are important. You can use it for noses, teeth and claws. Crosslinked Polyethylene can be carved and then be shaped with a Dremel tool or sandpaper.
1/2″ Cloth Backed Sew Foam
Cloth backed foam can be used the same as Polyfoam. It has the advantage of a cloth backing which gives it additional strength. When using it for puppets, you can put the cloth on the inside or the outside of the puppet.
Using the cloth on the outside, it can be dyed and covering the puppet with fleece or other material will not be necessary. You can stitch your pieces together, but unlike when using fleece, you will not be able to hide the seams.
I prefer to put the cloth side inside the puppet. This provides a protective lining and gives more strength to the foam. As an alternative, I cover the inside of my puppets heads with T-Shirt cotton.
T-shirts can be purchased inexpensively at thrift stores and attached to the foam with a spray adhesive. I do this on my top-of-the-line puppets, but for most puppets, I use bare foam.
Latex Foam
Latex foam is poured into a mold. Chemicals are mixed together in a blender and then poured into a plaster mold.
A clay mock-up of your puppet design is made and a plaster mold is made from that. The latex foam is mixed in a blender and poured into the mold. The mold is then placed in a low-temperature oven or left at room temperature for the foam to set.
Measurements need to be exact. The foam takes a while to dry, but the end result can be extraordinary details in your puppet.
Latex Foam can be dyed to get the color you want and then the details can be painted with acrylic paints.
Many of the puppets in The Dark Crystal were latex foam.
Foam Blocks
Any foam that you can get in a sheet, you can also get in a block.
In fact, all foam starts as a block and they cut those into the sheets that you want, half-inch, quarter inch, three-quarter inch, but sometimes you want to use a block.
A super-soft foam is really great for sculpting a puppet head if you want the final head to be made out of foam. Think of it as a really flexible, spongy, expressive puppet head material.
Foam balls can also be carved to make puppet heads.
Craft Foam
One foam that’s very common is craft foam. You can find it at any craft or art supply store. Craft foam is essentially sheets of a colored L-200.
Craft foam is great for puppet tongues, for eyelids, fingernails, scales. Any little detail that you want to add to your puppet. It comes in a variety of colors and can be purchased plain or with an adhesive back.
That’s your introduction to puppet foam.
By the way, if there’s something I didn’t cover, you can leave a question in the comments below.
Be sure to check out my Tools & Materials Page to see what foams I buy. I have discovered Amazon has some great prices on polyfoam and L-200. CLICK here.