Pool Noodle
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A pool noodle is a cylindrical piece of flexible, buoyant
polyethylene Polyethylene or polythene (abbreviated PE; IUPAC name polyethene or poly(methylene)) is the most commonly produced plastic. It is a polymer, primarily used for packaging (plastic bags, plastic films, geomembranes and containers including bott ...
foam. Pool noodles are used by people of all ages while swimming. Pool noodles are useful when learning to
swim Swim or SWIM may refer to: Movement and sport * Swim, a fad dance * Aquatic locomotion, the act of biologically propelled motion through a liquid medium * Human swimming, the useful or recreational activity of movement through water * Swimming ( ...
, for floating, for rescue reaching, in various forms of water play, and for aquatic exercise. The most common dimensions are about in length and in diameter. The pool noodle is also used for people who experience difficulties in swimming. The pool noodle is often used to protect sharp edges and corners.


Types

The term "water woggle" derives from Koswell Holdings trademark Water Woggle, which was first marketed as a foam water toy in the 1980s. The term "noodle" derives from Jakks Pacific's trademark FunNoodle water product, which was created as a foam tube water toy. Canoodle ("connect a noodle") is the
polypropylene Polypropylene (PP), also known as polypropene, is a thermoplastic polymer used in a wide variety of applications. It is produced via chain-growth polymerization from the monomer Propene, propylene. Polypropylene belongs to the group of polyolefin ...
(plastic) erector set manufactured in the US by Serranoventions.


Connectors

There are several pool noodle connectors on the market. One connector is a piece of pipe made out of foam, slightly larger than a pool noodle so that it can connect two pool noodles by encasing the end of each. There are several other connector made of food grade polypropylene and manufactured in Australia and the USA. This noodle connector comes in the form of an erector set that is screwed into the cavity or center of the foam noodle and attaches to a six-sided noodle connector. This allows larger structures to be built from pool noodles. There exist at least two-, four- and six-hole foam connectors and a variety of polypropylene connector parts that enable users to build all types of structures and designs.


Other uses

Pool noodles are similar to some types of industrial and residential foam insulation for pipes. Pipe insulation sleeves are made from a variety of materials, primarily
EPDM rubber EPDM rubber (ethylene propylene diene monomer rubber) is a type of synthetic rubber that is used in many applications. EPDM is an M-Class rubber under ASTM standard D-1418; the ''M'' class comprises elastomers with a saturated polyethylene chai ...
foam (which typically has greater resistance to high temperatures than expanded polyethylene foam). Despite this, pool noodles have been used as an
improvised Improvisation, often shortened to improv, is the activity of making or doing something not planned beforehand, using whatever can be found. The origin of the word itself is in the Latin "improvisus", which literally means un-foreseen. Improvis ...
substitute for commercial pipe insulation. Modern martial artists occasionally use pool noodles as
tameshigiri ''Tameshigiri'' (試し斬り, 試し切り, 試斬, 試切) is the Japanese art of target test cutting. The kanji literally mean ":wiktionary:試, test :wiktionary:切, cut" (kun'yomi: ためし ぎり ''tameshi giri''). This practice was popul ...
(test cutting) targets, in lieu of more expensive targets like meat or
tatami are soft mats used as flooring material in traditional Japanese-style rooms. They are made in standard sizes, twice as long as wide, about , depending on the region. In martial arts, tatami are used for training in a dojo and for competition. ...
omote mats.
FIRST Robotics Competition FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) is an international high school robotics competition operated by ''FIRST''®. Each year, teams of high school students, coaches, and mentors work to build robots capable of competing in that year's game. Robots c ...
robots use the foam from pool noodles as a bumper to protect the robots from damage during collisions. Customers often use pool noodles for their own boots to prevent the boots flopping over in the closet. Cyclists have begun to use them as a safety tool.


References


Further reading

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External links

* {{Authority control Physical activity and dexterity toys Swimming equipment Water toys