Hypertufa Hands

by Jacki
(Grand Forks, B.C. Canada)

curved hypertufa hands

curved hypertufa hands

curved hypertufa hands hypertufa hand with a handful of Sempervivum 'Little Bobo' Grouping of hypertufa hands, filled with Sempervivum species display these in a trough to showcase the tiny species

Well, these are a funny little project - hypertufa hands made from (what else?) surgical gloves and your favorite hypertufa or soil cement mix.

I tried with two, to see if they would work, intending to plants some of my favorite little hardy succulents in them.

I'm thinking they'll be an absolute hit!

Couple of things to keep in mind - make sure there is no air in the fingers of the glove and constantly 'burp' them to get all of it out (I guess you could prick a little hole in the ends of the fingers so the air could escape - something to try next time) and then I lay mine into a pot to curve the fingers.

The other thing to keep in mind is that wherever the fingers touch, it's hard to get the gloves out, so you have to cut them with a razor blade, then carefully pull them loose.

The fingers are fragile, so be careful doing this.

Another option would be to just let the glove weather away in the sun, or carefully burn them off with a propane torch.

The place I got the idea had done them flat, which was cute too. I can see these sticking up out of a garden bed! Don't get too close, or the buried person will grab you...

See a bigger image of this project on Wikimedia.




Comments for
Hypertufa Hands

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Feb 07, 2012
 tufa fingers
by: gardengirl

I just love these hand tufas------I made 3 of them.The first one which when trying to release the surgical glovewas a failure. Maybe I tried to soon. I broke off (2) fingers (the pinky and then the ring finger. I then made up some pure portland and wet the wounded areas and put them back on-------this did work. I won't be so anxious next time.Please let me know if after a couple of days, should I emerse them in a bucket of water for a week as I read which is what is advised to do with (pinch-pots.Sinserely Gardengirl.
Feb 08, 2012
 tufa hands
by: garden girl

Hey please let me know if you put these little hands in water ---after a few days to cure as they do with the pinch pots. Sincerely garden girl


Hi Garden Girl - yes, you do cure them in exactly the same way by immersing them completely in water. Here is the link to more on that: Curing Hypertufa.
Apr 11, 2012
 help
by: pcmom

I'm having terrible luck with the hands....the fingers are breaking off!!!! I'm using a mix of equal parts portland cement, peat and perlite. Do I need to use a stronger recipe? How long do they need to sit before removing the gloves?
ANY INFO would be appreciated!
Thanks!

These are tricky, that's for sure. I found that you can make them with less peat and perlite, which will make them stronger, and above all, don't mess with them too much until they're thoroughly cured. They take a long time to cure, so don't stint on keeping them wrapped and/or soaking in a water bath.

Others have found that you can make a little bit of mortar (just the portland cement and tiny amount of water mixed until it's like putty) and glue them back on.

I also will be trying using wire inside each finger, to make them a bit stronger. I also found that some gloves are skinnier in the fingers than others, so maybe use a larger size.

Best of luck!
Jacki
Apr 23, 2012
 so creative!!!
by: brenda

love love this!!!
May 01, 2012
 HYPERTUFA HANDS
by: Robbie Frazier

could you use quickcrete to make them with. I think it would be strong enough. Just wondered.

Try it, and post back here if you have success - I don't see why you can't use other ingredients and methods - I'm big on innovation and figuring things out. Luckily, with Hypertufa, there are no rules!

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