How To Make A Silicone Mould

In this video, I am going to show you how to make a silicone mould. To start, you would need a set of scales, you need a mould dish, any size of mould dish depending on the mould you will be making, you need a plastic cup, some mixing sticks, some latex gloves and the silicone we will be using is called a T28 rubber silicone. You also need the hardener to go with it.

When you purchase your silicone, do not forget to ask for the catalyst, which is also called the hardener. So, the first step is you take your piece that you are going to make a mould of. I have carved a ring out of a jewellery carving wax.

Apply a little bit of glue; this is just PVA glue, a very, very small amount of glue along one of the edge of the mould. Now, this is an open mould that we are making and for open mould, it is really important that the piece that you are making the mould of has a very, very flat side so that you could stick very flesh on your mould dish. The other side could have all sorts of carving and intricate designs but one side needs to be perfectly flat.

You then stick your wax ring, or whatever you are using in the dish, give it a minute or two to dry. Now, while such drying, you prepare your silicone. You put on your latex gloves.

If you are allergic to latex, you can any other gloves. This is just to protect your hands from the silicone. The silicone does not have a very long shelf life.

It will last for a couple of months. I remove that. Be sure also to put a piece of paper on your surface that you are working on as the silicone can get quite tacky and stick to your surface.

You please set your scale to zero, place your cup and set it to zero again and for this particular silicone, the mixture is 1 percent. So, I am going to make up 100 grams of silicone, so I pour 100 grams of silicone into my cup. I am doing it quite slowly so that I do not exceed the 100 grams.

Now, I am going to put my scale to zero again so that I could measure the catalyst and I will use 5 grams of catalyst for this 1 percent, one to five percent. Again, you need to check the catalyst for the mixture for the silicone you are using. There is a huge variety of silicone that you could use.

Some are very, very firm, some are more flexible, so check if you go to a mould-making shop and ask them for a flexible silicone. I have poured my catalyst in there. Now, you need to mix it.

Now, when you are mixing, it is quite crucial that you do not stir it too aggressively because you will put air bubbles inside the silicone. If you have air bubbles, then you will end up with air bubbles on your mould which is something you do not want to have. So you mix it gently but it needs to be mixed thoroughly.

Now, my ring is probably securely fastened, so to check that it is perfectly fastened, tip it over and check it around and if it does not come off, then it should be okay. Now, you pour the silicone over your ring or mould. Okay, put very slowly, ensuring that it goes in to all the corners.

In such a large mould dish, you could actually put two pieces and have a cast of two pieces. It will take us some time, perhaps 15 to 20 minutes for the air bubbles to rise but once you have made your mould, leave it in the same place overnight. Do not lose it around and transfer it because there is more chance of your pieces glued onto the bottom of the dish will rise up.

Okay, with this, see all the air bubbles coming to surface. Once you have poured your mould, leave it for 24 hours to cure. Now, when you come back to it, it is best to do it overnight.

When you come back to it, touch the surface of the mould and it should feel fairly firm. If it is not firm, do not take it out of the mould dish, leave it but it really should cure over 24 hours. If it is not firm, it is possible that you have not mixed it correctly or something has gone wrong.

Use a mixing stick and you have to prize the ends of the dish away and then you use the sti