When I realised that I wanted to make breast forms, the very first question to answer was what on earth are they to be made from?
We started by cutting a piece of foam rubber and that at least had the weight I was looking for. But it needed a covering, a kind of “skin” to make it durable and waterproof.
We then found some material at a plastics place that sells products to the film and 3D modelling
industries and started playing around with that. But it was a silicon product and foam rubber, as
we found out, is a polyurethane product and those two materials just don’t mix. They are rather like two north magnets held together, and we needed a skin product that would
adhere to the foam rubber.
We went on searching and eventually came across a company called Pacific Urethanes who deal
only with polyurethane systems and applications.
Polyurethane is found in many guises in our modern life.
It’s used in upholstery fabrics both commercial and domestic.
It’s used in ‘fridges and freezers, insulation panels, bedding, footwear, and there are many more industrial and manufacturing applications of it.
It’s used in paints and varnishes and a form of it can even be a fire retardant.
It’s used in Spandex, Lycra and Elastane which are the one product and were invented in 1958 and are co-polymers that offer exceptional elastic qualities. Spandex is an acronym of the word “expands” and expand it can...up to 600% of its original size then back again! A lot of clothing has some of these fibres in its makeup.
There are many forms of this material around us as we sit in our homes watching telly.
Pacific Urethanes and Perfect-Again.
Pacific Urethanes has an R & D Division and we asked them for help to develop the material for our Breast Forms. After working with this idea for some time, their chemists produced a soft elastic cast-able elastomer that could be bonded to the flexible foam moulding of the inner breast form to produce a final complete breast form that I was happy with.
Pacific Urethanes have been most helpful to Perfect Again and we like them. They are an Australian company that started in 2008 and are located in Dandenong South. They are also very happy to be able to help Perfect Again help women who want a lightweight and comfortable external breast form alternative to the traditional heavy breast prosthesis that many women find too uncomfortable for daily use. The materials used are medical grade and are absolutely safe for use on the delicate skin of women, even those who have recently gone through radiation therapy.
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