Recently we bought a piece of Tuff-R — I guess you would call it a styrofoam insulation board — and cut it to fit a small window exactly. It is a temporary measure, to get through the winter. The small window is a jalousie type of window that loses a lot of heat. I would call the project a success, but it was messy work because the little styrofoam crumbs stick to your clothes, blow around unpredictably, and are hard to clean up.
I would like to do this again for another window. What is a good way to minimize the mess when working with this material?
Best Answer
Tuff-R is polyisocyanurate foam.
For styrofoam (polystyrene) using a hot wire cutter to melt rather than crumb the foam is less messy, though with more fumes/smoke. You probably don't want to try that with polyisocyanurate, since the fumes given off by it are far more toxic, per a brief search.
For any sort of foam being cut (sawn) to crumbs(some types don't melt), vacuuming while cutting is helpful.
If you can make your cuts with a razor knife or similar non-crumbing tool rather than a saw, that can help, but may require more effort to make the cut.