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This is less of a question of “What do you Do When…” and more of a question of “How do you explain to someone else what you do when…” Getting the wrinkles out of a drop- when I send a new drop to venue, often far from where I’m located, I usually get a call from someone at load-in asking what my best tips are for getting the wrinkles out. Often, that person hasn’t really had to solve this kind of problem before, and in a recent case, might overstretch or make wrinkles worse.
I’m starting to think maybe I should put together a quick-reference PDF of my best do’s and don’ts for this. What would I put on it, and how would I best explain to someone who might be a novice at handling soft goods how best to treat them?
On the phone, I usually give them a rundown of info about giving it a light mist from a sprayer, from the back, working as quickly and as evenly as possible so that the whole thing is equally wet at the same time, and dries at the same time. I try to explain a bit about having an even weight in the bottom pipe, and a gentle side stretch if possible. What else might help head off a problem?
I would like to see a write up of how to properly do this
This would be great to have here on the forum and the Wiki for a permanent resource.
I agree with all of your instructions Val. And since it’s geared to the “novice” I would say some sort of illustration should be included.
Along with the tip- yes electrics will need to move any strip lights out of the way.
Also raise your hand if you broke the rules and rode a genie up in the air and had people below you push you along the top of the hung drop as you lightly sprayed.
Cool, I’m interested to hear more of the teeny tiny tips on this.
Like, what’s a good way to describe how wet it should be? (water on the surface should look like glittery sprinkles, and never run down in streaks?) And what’s a good way to explain to a newbie the quality of the mist that should be coming out of your sprayer, and how wide the passes should be? How should I explain not to overstretch with bottom pipe and side clamps?
And, I’m in a bit of a debate with a few of my contacts about the question of To Steam or Never To Steam a stubborn wrinkle. The consensus I’m getting is that we probably shouldn’t ever recommend steaming a drop, but I gotta say that in my 6-ish years of touring with musicals and opera, I’ve seen it done a LOT. Best practice seems to be to make sure the steamer is fully piping hot so it doesn’t spit water droplets, always keep the wand about 18 inches from the surface, keeping moving constantly in a motion like being a conductor for a symphony. That whole scenario might still make puckers around a newly flat area, and then you’re pretty much committed to spending your next 90 minutes in a genie chasing the puckers around til you run out of time before curtain.
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