Interesting uses for cork - #1

I am going to begin a series of entries about interesting uses for cork. There are many, many, many uses for cork - some we all know and some are rather unique. Some we, at Jelinek Cork, never even know about until we receive the request for a specific type or size of cork. When we ask what it is used for, we are often amazed with yet another use of cork.

Use #1 - Entertainment/movie/theatre industry: "Cork Dirt"

Granulated cork, or cork grain, is often found in the entertainment industry as a substitute for dirt or sand. It looks like dirt yet without the weight/suffocating traits. Cork grain can be dumped on the ground to give the visual appearance of dirt or sand - perhaps that beautiful sandy beach seen on TV is actually a cork beach! It can be used when someone or something is "covered in dirt". Various sizes of cork chips are also used in mock explosions to simulate flying shrapnel - obviously these are much safer for the actor to encounter than actual shrapnel.

Cork grain is actually the waste product of the wine cork manufacturing process. Wine corks are punched out of strips of cork bark. The bark not used for stoppers is ground up to create granulated cork.

Another Use: Though not cork grain, cork pads are used on the bottom of shoes so the sounds of footsteps are not heard when filming.

Though you should never try any of these special effects at home, know the next time you watch a movie containing dirt, it could very well be cork.