[Strawbale] Plaster mixes - now glass fibers?

[Speireag Alden]

Sgrìobh Raftercat5 at aol.com:

>Speireag:  My curiosity is piqued now.  Please elaborate on the  "glass
>fibers".  Where do you get them, how small are they?  Do they  blow 
>in the wind,
>getting in eyes, etc.?  Is it like fiberglass  insulation?  Would 
>plastic fibers
>from rope do the same thing?  We'll  be plastering next year, if all goes
>well.

     I get mine at the local concrete plant.  $5 per bag, and a small 
bag goes a long way when you're hand mixing.

     They do not get in the eyes; they're still slightly attached to 
each other in clumps, within the bag.  They're soft to the touch, and 
rather silky.  You can handle them bare-handed.  It's the mixing 
which pulls them apart into individual fibers.  It is not much like 
fiberglass insulation, though similar.

     I don't know if plastic fibers from rope would do something 
similar.  This stuff is cheap, effective, and essentially spun 
silica, which is better than plastic in my book, so I'm not inclined 
to try chopping rope.

-Speireag.

-- 
Anger, if not restrained, is frequently more hurtful to us than the 
injury that provokes it.
--Lucius Annaeus Seneca, philosopher (BCE 3-65 CE)