It’s common for people to use casting resins to make custom jewelry or parts for models. When dried, casting resins can be used in a wide range of ways. A mold release is used to keep the resin from sticking to the mold. There are many types of resins that can be used for projects. If you don’t use a mold release, you may end up with a ruined project, mold, or both. When traditional mold release agents aren’t available for your project, there are other materials you can use that work just as well.
Cooking Spray
To keep food from sticking to cookware, cooking sprays can be very useful. They can also help keep other things from sticking together. Nonstick cooking spray, which can be found in most grocery stores, is a good resin mold release agent because it doesn’t stick. It’s safe and won’t hurt the resin or the mold. Make sure to wipe the cooking spray off the resin creation and the mold with a rag when you remove it.
Talcum Powder
A mold release agent called Talcum powder can be used with flexible silcone-type molds that aren’t very detailed, like a simple cabochon shape or a half sphere. Talcum doesn’t work well with hard, rigid molds or small, detailed areas because it doesn’t cover the mold well enough to keep it from sticking to itself.
Petroleum Jelly
Petroleum jelly is a good mold release agent for simple molds that don’t have a lot of small details. Applying the jelly by hand makes it spread out and cover the mold. Use petroleum jelly on molds that have a lot of small details, but you might lose some of them when you make your finished resin object because the petroleum jelly is as thick as some of them.
Vegetable and Mineral Oil
Vegetable oils, like the ones used to cook, can also be used as mold release agents. You can rub the oil into the mold with a paper towel. Mineral oil can be used in the same way as other types of oil. If too much oil is used, some of the mold’s details may be covered by pools of oil. A paper towel can be used to get rid of any extra oil.
Hi. Thank you for the great tips. I’m guessing if I wanted to place Chameleon Mica Powder to the inside of my resin silicone mold I don’t think I could use anything oil base. Would you happen to have any suggestions how to release the finished resin from the mold if using Chameleon Mica Powder?