More Holey Then Righteous

It is a common question that we receive fairly often and we thought this as good a time as any to share our thoughts.

Holes can appear/develop on aerial silks for a number of reasons:

1. Every day wear and tear: If the silks are more then 8 months old and are used frequently. We see this a lot at our studio where we have over 12 aerial silks classes per week.

2. Hardware damage: If the hole/tear is close to the rigging point there is a good chance that the silk may have been caught in a carabineer or the ears of a figure eight perhaps during set up or storage.

3. Jewelry or zipper damage: Another reason to be mindful of what we wear while training. It is relatively easy for a zipper, ring or earring to catch on to the silks and tear a small hole

 So, what do we do about it?

If your silks are more then eight – twelve months old and get A LOT of use and you are starting to see holes, it might be best to think about retiring them.

If they are less then six months old and you are noticing one or two small holes at one specific place it may be caused by hardware/zipper/jewelry trauma and therefore possibly salvageable.

If the hole is smaller then a penny you may want to consider sewing it up to avoid the hole getting bigger. But even if the hole is small, if it is in a location that is close to the figure 8/rigging point and therefore responsible for much of the load, you will need to either re-tie the silks so the sewed-up hole is no longer close to the rigging point or retire the silks.

Alternatively, if the hole/s are located a few feet or more from the rigging point but are too big to sew up AND the silks are still relatively new you can consider cutting the fabric just underneath the holes. You can then either re-tie the fabric as shortened silks OR tie them as an aerial hammock (which generally does not require as much fabric).

Another way to prevent holes is to ensure that you are purchasing high quality fabric. Do your research on this. We use Tricot Nylon non-stretch or low stretch from www.aerialsilksrus.com because they are local to LA, good quality and have a great color selection.

We also love Sam over at Getting Inverted who sells dyed fabrics and has a great collection of quality silks: www.gettinginverted.com

If in doubt, it is always better to err on the side of caution and retire your silks when you start to notice holes.

To quote Rachel’s 9th grade Ballet teacher when she showed up to class one day in black fishnet stockings instead of the standard pink tights (it was washing day!):

“You look more Holey then Righteous! UGH! Put those disgusting things in the trash RIGHT NOW”

(No wonder she got into circus)

Anyway…

Have a fantastic rest of your day!