Polymer clay molding has become a real hit in recent decades. Since the products made from such raw materials have a very long service life, many adults at the amateur and professional level decided to use their own creativity as a way to please themselves and loved ones and even earn money.
It is not surprising that the new fashion quickly affected children as well, since many of them like to sculpt by themselves, and most of them also have to do this because of the peculiarities of the school curriculum.
There are many more authors of good creations today than people who really have talent, and molds for polymer clay help them in this.
What it is?
Anyone who has at least once tried to sculpt something worthwhile with his own hands will confirm: to create a masterpiece you need a remarkable talent, and if the design also involves an abundance of complex small details, then the process is likely to take a long time. This greatly limits the number of people who are able to successfully pursue such a hobby - some do not have time, and some simply do not know how.
In the modern consumer society, manufacturers of molding materials could not afford to lose a huge number of interested potential consumers, so they found an ingenious solution - to produce special silicone molds.
The principle of using such a mold is simple. The mold has a recess of the desired shape, which is tightly filled with polymer clay to the top, as a result of which a figure is formed. Silicone is excellent for such tasks, since it can be successfully baked with clay, but even after such tests it remains elastic and allows you to easily remove the product from the mold.
It is more convenient to work with molds if the master regularly uses some repetitive motives.
In general, people who are carried away usually repeat not whole products, but only individual components - for example, flowers or berries, which are present in very many compositions, regardless of the purpose of the item.
With proper care, such a mold can last up to five years, however, you should not use the form for other materials to do this (for example, for epoxy). In addition, the mold must always be perfectly clean and dry for maximum aesthetic results.
How to use molds correctly?
Working with forms will seem extremely simple only to the ignorant, while professionals know a lot of secrets on how to extend the life of a mold or to achieve the maximum likelihood of transferring a form.
It is worth using deep silicone molds, in which the hole is equal to the maximum width of the product, or even exceeds it. Although filling seems extremely simple, the masters do not recommend doing it with one single piece of material - it is better to use small parts and compact the mass thoroughly, because this is the only way to achieve sufficient strength.
The mold should be filled to the very brim, or a little less, but never more. Although the molds are designed to be baked in the oven along with their contents, experts still do not recommend doing this: if it is possible to remove fresh plastic from the mold without disturbing the appearance of the product, then it is better to do so. This will significantly extend the life of the tool and save money on buying a new one.
If the product was nevertheless baked in the oven along with the mold, in no case should you try to remove the craft until it cools completely, but you can speed up the process a little with running cold water.
The finished product should be removed from a shallow form with a wide neck even more carefully., because there is always a risk of breaking the figure with careless actions. Such operations can be applied in particular in the manufacture of clay chocolate bars.
In such a situation, extraction is carried out by simply squeezing the shape with your fingers, as if folding in half - the "chocolate" itself will fall out of the nest.
The most difficult task looks like when the slot of the form is much smaller than its internal space. In this way, for example, a plate can be made. Here, special requirements are put forward for the quality of filling the mold, because the remote corners of the space will remain unfilled if the master does not directly start from this at the very early stage of production.
Even the high elasticity of silicone will not allow you to remove the workpiece from the mold if it has not had time to harden, so it is pointless to keep such molds - in any case, they will go into the oven along with their filler. After complete cooling, the author of the craft carefully folds the edges of the form and removes the finished product.
How to make a form yourself?
Despite the fact that you can buy molds for polymer clay in almost any specialized store, many craftsmen prefer to make molds for themselves. This allows you not to be limited to the rather standard and overly worn-out forms produced for beginners, and go directly to self-expression, but this task is not an easy one, since you have to manually sculpt the desired contours. However, for the needs of making figurines for sale, this approach is the only correct one.
The easiest way to explain the scheme for creating mold is using the example of a conditional berry. To do this, you will definitely need a real sample of the object whose copying is planned.
Experts recommend taking a picture of the berry to accurately remember its color. You can trace it around on paper to clarify the shape and size, but if the instructions are followed correctly, this step will be superfluous.
A container of any shape is taken (as an option - previously molded by hand from clay), provided that it ideally accommodates the object in such a way that it does not touch the walls or bottom anywhere - there should be a gap of at least 5-7 mm.
As a material, you can use an ordinary acid sealant due to its low cost, it is better transparent - so it will be possible to notice air bubbles during the manufacturing process and remove them in time.
After pouring the sealant into the mold (make sure there are no bubbles), the berry is moistened with a small amount of soap solution and immersed in the mass, pressing the sealant with fingers in a rubber glove to avoid the formation of voids.
When the sealant dries (this period is indicated on the package), you can remove the berry - the mold is ready. To avoid sticking, finished forms are stored in separate polyethylene bags.
How to make a silicone mold yourself, see below.
