Home made silicone moulds- really works!

A couple of posts ago, I said I would try this out and share the results. At the crop, Kyla( Li'l Pidge)showed us how to make lightweight (& cheap) embellishments using hot glue. She was using moulds made from a two part silicone putty, and I remembered seeing a You Tube video on making your own, using cheap ingredients, which I said I would share.Here is the link to the original video the lady posted.
Her mix uses ordinary silicone,and either talc,cornflour or baking powder.I came across another video, and the guy had added a few drops of acrylic paint, to colour it, and a few drops of glycerine, which seemed like a good idea. So, you need:

A tube of silicone, some cornflour/talc/baking powder and vaseline. I also highly recommend disposable gloves- this stuff is icky when you're mixing it!



Optional extras: Any acrylic paint, and glycerine, which you will find in either Chemists or the baking aisle of the supermarket.



I did the mixing on a heat proof baking sheet, (Poundland).
 Important point- make sure it says SILICONE on the tube- not all these sealants are silicone, I discovered.The first tube I bought, I assumed was silicone, as it said flexible waterproof sealant,but it wasn't.
Some of these sealants are acrylic, and it does not stay flexible when it dries. Lessons learnt here; Always read the label, and never assume anything, lol.
Squeeze a dollop of silicone onto your surface-this one is white. It does come in clear & a few other colours,you will find it has a slight vinigary smell to it.  If you want to colour the moulds add a few drops of acrylic paint and a few drops of glycerine, to help keep it supple.
Aim to add roughly the same amount of cornflour, etc,- its not a precise thing, roughly 50/50. You can always add some more silicone or flour into the mix if you need to. I started mixing it using an old plastic loyalty card- smear a bit of Vaseline onto it first.
 I found this was slow going, so switched to mashing it together with my fingers. This is where you will appreciate the gloves. Rub some Vaseline onto them first, this stuff sticks to everything, honestly. Its a bit like making pastry, just knead it together, and you want to get to the consistency of soft pastry.Roll into a ball, and there you have it. Its that easy.

So now to start moulding stuff. I used a few metal embellishments I have, and some old ear-rings. This pic gives you an idea how big a piece I used for one mould. Remember to make it deep enough so that when you press in your embellishment, you don't go all the way through. I found if you did get any little holes because of this, you can wipe a little neat silicone over it, just to stop any leaks. Push down firmly, then make sure the mould is neat around your item. Use the plastic card to lift it off the mat, and place on something to cure.
IMPORTANT: Don't make too big a batch, I found that it cures in about 30  minutes, so you need to have your moulding items to hand, and make your moulds in that time. I used about a quarter of the tube to make a batch.

This is how many moulds I made from that quantity.
 I noticed in her video, the lady says put aside to cure at least overnight. I found these had cured(set) in about half an hour- maybe humidity has something to do with it, or perhaps different brands work differently.

This was my first mould.

All my moulds with their items.














This is a sword- yes, I had some strange ear-rings! You can see how flexible the mould is.

I coated the inside of this one with some acrylic paint, so you could see how much detail it picks out.
 So, the verdict is that this stuff is awesome! Even more so as it works out so cheap.The tube of Silicone cost me £1.99, I got it from B&M Bargains, you'll get it in Wilkinsons, B&Q, Wickes etc.The gun £1 from Poundland, as was the Vaseline.Cornflour was just over a quid from Tesco, I've got a few tubs of talc lying around that I'm going to try out.