Thanks I appreciate it! For heavier fabrics (heavy cotton, broadcloth, etc), the cheese grater works like a champ. I just wet the material and went nuts on my cooler, grinding away. For the silk, i'll probably use a combination of a 1" wire brush and 60 grit sandpaper.
It does have a different name in the UK - Polymorph and ShapeLock. When googling, I saw it being sold in a "local branch of Maplins."
http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?Mod ... =2&doy=8m1
I got mine at http://www.jewelrysupply.com (1.5" x 7" strips) and http://www.cosplaysupplies.com (beads like Polymorph/ShapeLock).
There's a Wonderflex + Friendly Plastic tutorial on cosplaysupplies.com, i think it's called "Wonderflex and Friendly Plastic FAQ" or similar.
I still have to figure out how to do some smoothing. It does have its drawbacks, but overall good to work with (based on what my gf has said).
EDIT: After initial melting in the boiling water, having a heat gun handy works great. The one i have goes from 100F to 1100F.