If you like to make crafts with polymer clay (available here*) or air drying clay (available here*), you know how useful stamps and molds are to make interesting textures. If you want to duplicate objects you will find this tutorial very useful. This DIY shows you how to make silicone molds with materials you probably have at home already.
How to make it and useful tips:
If you want to make a silicone mold, you need ordinary silicone caulk from the hardware store (available here*) and a lot of baby powder. I recommend doing this craft outside, because the silicone smells really bad until it dries.
1. Use a plastic file holder to protect your table. Put a generous amount of baby powder on it and add a little silicone on top. Be careful to put the silicone only on a powdered area. Otherwise it will stick to it.
2. Cover the silicone again with a lot of baby powder. Honestly, you can’t use too little. Use gloves to protect your skin and powder them as well before you touch the silicone.
3. Begin to mix the silicone and the powder gently. Try to flip it around and cover all sides constantly with powder. Add new powder as you go. Continue like that, until the mixture is starting to feel a bit “steadier”. You’ll know what I mean by that.
4. Make a disc-like shape that should be big enough to press your object into. Place your silicone on a plate or pice of glass. I used an old tile. Smooth out the surface with your fingers and a little powder.
5. Cover your object with a layer of powder. If you use too much powder, little details won’t show up in the mold. If you use too little, your object will stick to the silicone.
6. Place your object on the silicone disc and apply gentle pressure. Just try to distribute the pressure evenly, until it sits firmly in the silicone. Now the silicone should be left to dry (with the object) for a day or two. It really depends on the thickness of your disc and the brand of silicone you used. Some silicone will dry completely in an hour. Mine took a lot longer to dry. Even if its dry on the outside, it can still be soft on the inside. Just be safe and wait a little longer, or make second “test mold”.
7.If your silicone has dried, you can remove it from the plate with a cutter knife. The silicone mold should be flexible enough to bend, and you can remove your object easily.
Now you can use your mold to make amazing stuff with polymer clay (available here*) or air drying clay (available here*). Just dust it with a little baby powder beforehand and your modeling material will come out easily! 🙂
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Which baby powder do you use: Talc or Cornstarch? And which Silicone do you use: Indoor or Outdoor? Or does it matter? Thanks!
I used talc baby powder and a very cheap silicone, which was for indoor use. But I don’t think it really matters. 🙂
Great idea!
If we want to use this mold to create something edible or a body product, is there a safer silicone that we could purchase?
hmm… maybe you could ask in a store that sells supplies for special fx makeup. They often use materials that are safe to use on the skin. Maybe they can be used for molds like that. At the very least, the store clerks should be able to give you more information on that. 😉