How to Make Your Own Hula Hoop

If your a do-it-your self-er and love arts and craft like I do, then this article is for you. You are going to learn how to make a hula hoop. That's right... making a hula hoop is just as fun as hooping itself. And the best part about making your own hoop is that you can decorate it and make it unique to fit your personality. It's, also,a great way to help other people discover the joy of hula-hooping.

Okay, are you ready? Let's get started...

Things you will need.

• Polyethylene tubing (3/4" or 1" in diameter)
• PVC tubing connector that fits your tubing
• Ratcheting PVC cutter
• Tape measure
• Scissors
• Blow dryer or Hot water to soften the ends of the tube
• Marker
• Pretty colorful tape

Where To Buy Supplies

You can usually find Tubing & Connectors at an irrigation supply store and/or at retailers like Home Depot and Lowe's. If there is no such place in your area, you can buy online.   Amazon.com is good place to start. That's where I purchased my tubing for this project.

Selecting The Right Tubing:  Selecting the right tubing is very important because it will determine the weight of your hoop. If you are making ahoop for kids, then a lighter hoop is appropriate. Use 100psi 3/4" tubing

To make a very heavy hoop, then use 160psi 1" tubing.

Many hoopers use either 160psi 3/4" tubing or 100psi 1" diameter.

Tubing comes in 100 foot roll, which will make about 8 hoops. If that's too much, then you can buy just what you need.  I purchased only 25 foot roll through Amazon for about $16, which will make 2 hoops.

Connectors:

You will need to select connectors that match the tubing: 1" connectors for 1" tubing, and 3/4" connectors for 3/4" tubing.

The connectors looks like the image above.

Colorful Tape:

It's easy to find tape online. You can find Prism (sparkle tape) and Gaffer tape at Troohoops.com or Amazon.com. Gaffer tape is very grippy allowing ease of use of your hoop. The sparkle tape is just for looks. You can also use colorful electrical tape. More About Hoop Tape

Ratcheting PVC cutter:

Using one of these makes cutting the tubing clean and easy.  I purchased one of these at Home Depot for about $12.

Now It's Time to Put the Hoop Together!

STEP 1: Now, determine your desired hoop size.   For a beginner the size can range from a 39 - 42 inch diameter.

Once you have decided the diameter of the hoop, you can determine the length of tubing needed to make a hoop. 

The length (Circumference) is found by multiplying the diameter by 3.14 (pi).

Example:  42inch X 3.14 = 131.88 cm

Some people measure the circumference around the outer edge of the tubing and then mark it with a marker indicating where to cut the tubing. I think it's easier just finding the diameter and then multiply that number by 3.14.

Or, you can make a loop that stands somewhere between navel and shoulder height.

STEP 2: Next, take your ratcheting PVC cutter and cut on the mark you made.

You will need the connector to connect the two ends of the tubing. (If you desire to add weight or noise maker to your hoop you can at this point.)

STEP 3: Now, the tubing ends will need to be heated to make it easier to insert the connector. You can use a hairdryer or hot water.  This takes only a few minutes to do.

Grab your connector and push the two ends together over the connector (slip one end of the tubing firmly over the connector. Do this for each end of the tubing.) The connector should disappear within the tubing.

It's now a hoop! :-)

Decorating Your Hoop!

You can purchase a blank collapsible hoop and decorate it the way you want. Check out Troo Hoops.com. They offer tubing and tape separately for any do-it-yourselfers.

Happy Hoop Making!!! :-)

Other Resources

Jason Unbound is one of the first to post a site on how to make a hula hoop. His site is still a great resource providing simple instructions and step-by-step photos. If you would like to learn how to make a collapsiblehoop he has excellent instructions on how to make one. Check out his site here at: www.jasonunbound.com.

Fit2Hoop › Hula Hoop Making