Making silicone for molds with your own hands at home

Production of paving slabs, souvenir soap, jewelry and jewelry, cooking and cosmetology, food industry and construction - and this is a partial list of possible applications of silicone rubber. Before proceeding to the recipes for the independent production of an analog of the flexible polymers produced by manufacturers, let us recall their qualities.

Molding polymers

A universal material is obtained by dissolving the ground quartz with nitric acid. When mixed with one of the catalysts, it is somewhat similar to rubber. The substance is not toxic, resistant to alkali and acids. In the finished form it has elasticity, impact resistance, water resistance and unlimited service life. It is very easy to take care of products from it, they are easy to store.

By appointment, two-component compounds, consisting of paste and hardener, are divided into casting, coating, and also silicone for the manufacture of molds. With your own hands, you can make from these blends not only blanks for souvenir soap, but strong templates for paving tiles, obtaining decorative stones and plaster moldings.

To give the substance a solid state, it is mixed with a tin or platinum catalyst before use, which is included in the kit. Depending on the kind of hardener, some qualities of elastic rubber depend:

• Transparency or opacity;
• Strength to tear or tear;
• Preservation of dimensions and heat resistance;
• hardness;
• Time of final congealing;
• Durability and print run.

For example, mixtures with tin catalysts are used in industry and construction. For the production of artificial stone or strong plastic products, the most durable materials are needed. Food silicone for making molds, in which chocolate and caramel are poured, are produced on the basis of platinum hardeners. The softness and elasticity of these compounds is more suitable for "sweet" production and baking.

Where homemade polymer is used

Despite the variety of compounds on offer, some craftsmen prefer to do everything themselves. Usually this is justified by saving money and being creative.

The manufacture of silicone for molds by one's own hands is possible in several ways. It should be clarified that the obtained substance differs in characteristics from industrial mixtures. And not always these differences are positive. If branded liquid silicone for making molds is used to create large and small items, homemade rubber is made only for domestic creativity.

How to create a matrix for casting: a few tips

Starting the manufacture of silicone for molds with their own hands, put a container, box or box for the main job. It is made of cardboard (if the sample is small), wood or plastic. It can be dismountable or integral. From the first it is easier to release the frozen preform. There should not be any crevices between the container parts, since all kinds of elastics have a fluidity.

Before putting the "model" in a container, it is covered with a separator. This grease should be waxy, fatty or soapy. To get a matrix for a vertical souvenir, it is attached to the bottom of the container by a piece of plasticine, so as not to float. Then, in a thin trickle, a pre-mixed compound is poured around the model. Filling the container starts from the corners, completely covering the figure set inside.

Prescription number 1: preliminary training

If you need a small amount of elastic rubber for some small product, you can use one of the options below. The preparation of silicone for molds at home begins with the preparation of a bowl, spatulas for stirring, components, the main pouring capacity and a small souvenir, the so-called master figurine, the mold of which is planned to be obtained for "cloning."

For the first method, glycerin and gelatin are taken in equal amounts and placed in a small container. The composition is melted in a water bath with constant stirring, not allowing boiling. Heating lasts 10-12 minutes.

Recipe details №1

The bottom of the prepared tray of cardboard or wood is evenly covered with the resulting mixture. Then the souvenir is dipped in homemade silicone and quickly put in this box. The pasted figure is immediately poured hot, filling the tray to the brim.

Liquid silicone for mold making, obtained in such an unpretentious way, hardens in a few minutes, almost before our eyes. After the complete cooling of the mass, the resulting bar is removed from the box, the incision is made from the lower side and the souvenir is gently removed.

The formed figured cavity can be filled only with epoxy resin. The manufacture of silicone for molds with their own hands on this recipe has several disadvantages:

• The finished master product absorbs water, so it can not be used to produce gypsum castings;
• The mass melts when trying to fill with a hot substance, so it is not suitable for creating a designer soap.
• After several uses, the inner surface of the mold spoils, loses its gloss and quality.

The advantage is the ability to re-melt many times past their stamps.

Recipe # 2: preparation

The manufacture of silicone for molds with their own hands requires some effort. Masters working with plastic clay make templates and molds in this way in order to realize their ideas. So, one of the types of high temperature resistant construction sealant and ordinary food starch or talc will be required. It is advisable to work in rubber gloves. Since seizure of the sealant occurs within 10 minutes, it is necessary to put in advance an object near which the mold will be prepared: a shell, a flat figure on one side, something else. The mold is hard, with a concave groove, so it is suitable for the production of only one-sided souvenirs.

Recipe # 2: details

1. Pour a little talcum or starch on the surface of the table (so as not to stick).
2. In the center of the sprinkling squeezed out of the tuba a heap of sealant.
3. Top is added with starch and mixed.
4. The resulting "dough" should take as much starch as not to stick to your hands and to the table.
5. From the mass make a thick cake, corresponding to the size of the future souvenir.
6. Quickly and accurately, forcefully press the chosen sample into this blank.
7. The silicone for the molds is left to dry for a day.
8. After extracting the figure, the cavity of the template is smeared with talcum powder using a brush and densely packed with plastic clay.
9. Such a base can be placed in the oven for drying together with aggregate, it is not afraid of high temperature.

What's good about this method

The first of the advantages can be called the reusability of using the resulting template. The material retains all its qualities. In molds made from starch and building sealant, you can pour a hot soap base, previously sprinkled with alcohol from the sprayer. Silicone for the manufacture of molds, produced by hand, withstands temperature loads on an equal basis with industrial compounds.

Among the minuses are the sharp acetic smell of sealants and the rapid hardening of the "dough". But the master can prepare the amount of substance that is needed at a given time for a particular job.