[siobhan]

 Hi

I have some opaque silicone bangle and ring moulds that i purchased from etsy. I have used them a lot and at first they produced nice shiny resin castings. Now they are producing dull castings and i dont know why. Is there a limit to how many times you can use a mould before it stops being shiny? I have washed them a couple of times with dish soap, like it said i could on the instructions. I didnt use mould release though, but it said i didnt have to with the silicone. Is there a way to get it back shiny? They were quite expensive and i dont want to stop using them. Also i have now gotten more moulds in the clear silicone, they are more expensive but will they dull the same way do you know? Thanks in advance

[Katherine Swift]

Hi Siobhan,

Without knowing how the molds were made or what they were made from, my first thought is to contact the artist on Etsy and ask for his/her support.  Speaking in generalities though, here are a few of my thoughts:

1.  I always use a mold release, even with silicone molds.  It prolongs the life of the mold.  While theoretically, epoxy will come out of a silicone mold without mold release, repeated use can result in the mold surface becoming dull. You can get mold release in our store here: https://shop.resinobsession.com/collections/tools-and-supplies/mold-release

2.  Dish soap is fine to clean molds, but perhaps its leaving a residue.  I like to use the Dawn brand dish soap, then slap the mold on a paper towel to get out the excess droplets.  I find that Dawn gets the molds clean without leaving a residue.

3.  Are your molds tin cure or platinum cure silicone?  Tin cure silicone molds don’t last nearly as long (a couple of years at most).  They will start to turn brittle, which may be why you are starting to experience this problem.  What kind of resin are you using with this mold? 

[siobhan]

I use epoxy resin..easy cast and lately I have been using entropy eco resin. They are all getting dull the more I use them. Im afraid I dont know how they were made. They are from different shops and look like all opaque silicone moulds I have seen. We dont have dawn dishsoap here (I live in Ireland) but I hve used fairy liquid a good quality brand. I will definitely start using mould release in my new ones to see if it helps. Btw I only have these moulds a matter of months. The oldest is no more than 5 mths old.

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