Plaster of paris

Plaster of Paris is a sculpting material with a variety of decorative and practical applications. Plaster of Paris is inexpensive and simple to work with. Decorate a finished project with paint or embellish it with beads, stones and wire.
Common uses for plaster of Paris include making castings for other artistic mediums, creating sculptures and making home decor objects like cornices.
Plaster may also be used to create complex detailing for use in room interiors e.g ceiling boards.
Plaster is also used to make chalk used in learning institutions.
Plaster is also an essential commodity in making of Paint and other paint by-products.
Plaster is widely used as a support for broken bones; a bandage impregnated with plaster is moistened and then wrapped around the damaged limb, setting into a close-fitting yet easily removed tube, known as an orthopedic cast.
Plasters have been in use in passive fire protection, as fireproofing products, for many decades.The finished plaster releases water vapor when exposed to flame, acting to slow the spread of the fire, for as much as an hour or two depending on thickness.
It also provides some insulation to retard heat flow into structural steel elements, that would otherwise lose their strength and collapse in a fire.
Early versions of these plasters have used asbestos fibres, which have by now been outlawed in industrialized nations and have caused significant removal and re-coating work.