Services · Fursuiters

The Fursuit
Lounge

A cool, quiet room where you can suit up, cool down, dry off and drink water before heading back out. It belongs to every suiter at the SFC, so the rules below exist to keep it usable for all of us.

Read the house rules What it is for

Suiters only past the door.

Where

To be announced

we will post the room once the venue plan is set

Open

To be announced

hours land with the schedule

Staffed

Always

a lounge team member is on duty

What it is for

A workshop, a changing room and a water stop.

The lounge exists so that wearing a suit at SloFluffCon is comfortable and safe. It is where suits get dried and stored between wears, and where the people inside them get cooled down, watered and fed.

Fursuiters only

Entry is for people with a suit with them, plus one handler each if you need the help. It stays that way so there is always room for the suiters who need to cool down right now.

Getting in and out of a suit

Seats, mirrors and enough floor space to get changed properly.

Drying and airing out

Numbered racks and moving air so a moist suit is wearable again after a few hours.

Parking your suit

Leave your suit on a rack while you eat, sit a panel out or spend the evening out of suit. Stay as long as you like during opening hours.

Water, drinks and snacks

Free chilled water, soft drinks and both sweet and salty snacks, because suiting burns through both sugar and salt faster than you notice.

Cooling down safely

Fans, a colder room and always staffed.

House rules

Eight rules, all of them boring for good reasons.

Every one of these came from something that actually happened at a con. Read them once and you will never have to think about them again.

Rule 01

No cameras, no phones on record

Not even pointed at the ceiling.

People change in here, and plenty of them are half out of a suit with their hair flat and their makeup gone. Filming or photographing anything inside the lounge is off limits, including video calls and streaming, and including shots you think are aimed away from everyone.

If you want a photo of your suit, the corridor outside has better light anyway. Staff will ask you to put the camera away once. After that they will ask you to leave.

Rule 02

Do not move anyone else’s suit

Ask the owner or ask staff.

If a suit is in your way, on the bench you wanted or hanging where you need to be, find its owner or grab a lounge team member. They will sort it out in a minute.

Moving someone else’s suit yourself is not allowed.

Rule 03

Snacks and drinks are for suiters

Bring your suit, help yourself.

The free water, soft drinks and sweet and salty snacks are here to keep fursuiters fed and hydrated, so they are for people who have brought their suit to the lounge. Take them freely.

Rule 04

No reserving space

Towels and tape do not hold a spot.

Marking out floor space, benches or racks with towels, tape or bags is not allowed. The room only works if the space goes to whoever needs it at that moment.

Staff may move or remove anything left to hold a spot so a suiter who needs it can get in.

Rule 05

Keep the fans clear

Fans cool fursuiters, not fursuits.

Draping a head, a tail, a towel or a pair of paws over a fan blocks the airflow for the whole row and cuts the cooling for everyone. Loose fur and fabric can also get pulled into the blades, which ends badly for both the fan and your suit.

Use the drying racks for anything that needs to air out. If every rack is full, ask a staff member we will try to find you space.

Rule 06

Nothing made of glass

Bare paws and broken glass do not mix.

Half the room is barefoot or in thin paws at any given moment, and a single dropped bottle scatters shards that are almost impossible to find.

If you prefer bringing your own water, use a plastic or metal bottle instead.

Rule 07

No food from outside

Grease and fur are a permanent combination.

Ice cream, chips, burgers and anything greasy leaves marks that often never come out. Wrappers and leftovers also turn the room smelly quickly.

Eat before you come in. We keep small snacks and drinks on-site for whenever you need it.

Rule 08

No paint, no blades, no flames

Face paint transfers, and so does everything else.

Body and face paint rubs off onto fur, and the stain usually needs deep cleaning. Keep it out of the lounge entirely, wet or dry.

Open flames, lighters and sharp objects are out too.

How the practical bits work

Drying, storage and refuelling.

Drying

Heads go on the stands, bodies on the racks, hand/feetpaws, and tails on the tables.
A wet suit usually needs a few hours to fully dry up.
Only use the drying space for as long as you need it; keep the space free once your suit has dried up.

Storage

Tag/label your bags, it's easy to lose your IKEA bag between someone else's.
Prefer soft bags over hard cases; you cannot fold up hard cases when not in use.
Space is for suits in use during the con, permanent storage is your hotel room.

Water and snacks

Chilled water and soft drinks are free and always stocked. Please notify staff if something is running low.
Drink with electrolytes are always available.
Sweet and salty snacks sit next to them, available whenever you need it.
Eat and drink at the tables by the counter, away from any suits or storage.

Staying safe

Heat sneaks up on everyone.

Experienced suiters overheat too, usually when you don't see it coming. We'd much rather see you four times a day than once in first aid.

Before you suit

Drink first

Drink sufficient water before you suit up, and grab some snacks too. Thirst usually shows up too late to be a useful warning.

While you are out

Set a limit

Come back every 45 minutes or so, even if you feel fine. Suiting in a busy con space is exhausting.

When you come in

Head off, fan on

Sit down, take the head off, get in front of a fan and drink. Give yourself ten minutes before deciding to go back out.

If it goes wrong

Tell someone

Dizzy, cold sweat, ringing ears, a headache that arrived fast. Say it out loud to a staff member; nobody will make a fuss about you stopping early.

Illustrated chart comparing the symptoms of heat exhaustion and heat stroke in a fursuiter.

Know the difference

Heat exhaustion or heat stroke?

Heat exhaustion is your body struggling. Get out of your suit, into the cool, and drink. It usually turns around within half an hour of doing that. Heat stroke is a medical emergency. The giveaway is that the sweating stops while the skin stays hot and dry, often with confusion or a headache that came on fast.

Heat exhaustion

Cool down now