Silicone is a nice rubber, but is it worthwhile to use it for silicone molds?
I argue the answer is no for most mold making applications
performed at home, small businesses and probably some large businesses for
prototype work and the construction industry. Stop wasting your money on
silicone molds and use the silicone for your final castings instead. Make rubber
ducks, rubber toys, dog toys, and silicone cups. Here’s my argument about why
you should save your money and use a re-usable molding material instead of the
silicone for molds.
Instead of Silicone Molds, Make Silicone Toys: https://youtu.be/UcX4xtJprXY
What do you use if you’re not going to use Silicone for molds?
The solution we suggest is a reusable molding material. After you
purchase it, you’re all set. No more spending money on mold making materials. We
have two main versions for you to use: ComposiMold and ImPRESSive Putty. They
can be re-melted and re-used as many times as you want.
Use the re-usable molding materials when:
- You are making several to a dozen or more duplicates of your original. The actual number of duplicates you can get out of one mold will vary depending on the casting material and complexity of the mold. With chocolate or soy wax, you can make hundreds of duplicates with the same mold. With concrete the number is lower. BUT, when you’re mold starts to lose detail, just re-melt it to make it again. Anytime you want.
- You want great detail, the option to make changes, the ability to make molds anytime you like, and you like to be environmentally conscious.
- Want to save money
Don’t use the re-usable molding materials when:
- Your mold needs to go into an oven or other hot source. The silicone molds can typically handle up to 400 F, so if you’re cooking in the molds, silicone would be better.
- Your casting with hot materials such as pewter (even silicone can’t handle higher melt metals).
- Also, if you’re making a lot of duplicates of a larger piece (1/2 cubic foot or so) with a fast cure resin, then you’d be better off using some silicone molding material, but even here, I would recommend using a brush-on silicone that is backed up by either a plaster mold or a re-usable rubber molding material (ImPRESSive Putty).
Look at some of the silicone mold options
First, the “cheap” silicone molds that are shown on a
zillion YouTube channels really aren’t that cheap. It’s called Oogoo, and it is
cool, but it shrinks by 25 to 35% over a week or two depending on the humidity,
Plus, it’s not exactly cheap if you are going to make a few molds. This is the dilemma
I ran into when I was molding parts for my model airplane pieces. These molding
supplies adds up!
Using Oogo as a Silicone Casting Material instead of a Silicone Mold:
Video at https://youtu.be/vfwN3R-pv1I
The silicone materials sold specifically for silicone
molds are nice, but they are expensive. Here’s the graph I bring up whenever
making this comparison. One silicone mold cost about as much as one re-usable
mold. So after 10 molds, it would cost you $500 in molding material costs.
Whereas, with a reusable molding material, your molding costs would still be
the cost of one mold.
 |
| The Cost of Silicone Molds Continuously Goes Up, But Not For Re-usable Molding Materials |
So the solution, use the silicone for your castings! It’s a
great rubber. Use it to make the soles of your shoes, for your
Stretch-Armstrong doll (err sorry-action figure), for your IPhone case. Dozens
of uses. But not mold making.
Here we use Silicone for a Cosplay/Theater Prop of an Axe. But we didn't use the silicone for the mold.
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