Best silicone from silicone mold release?
in Lab work
Can't seem to find a clear answer for this. I made a mold using Smooth-on Body Double Silk and plan to cast Polytek Platsil Gel 10 into it. The Smooth-on website says the Ease Release 200 is not very effective as a release agent and instead says use thinner petroleum jelly. So I called Smooth-on to check and the guy in the line said he would use the Ease Release 200. So then I called Polytek and the guy was not familiar with Ease Realese 200 but said the thinned petroleum jelly would be fine. So just seeing what people's thoughts on here were. Thank you.
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Best Answers
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Micah J.
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Ease Release 200 is the only silicone release agent we use in production of silicone parts. These parts are made from the Dragon Skin series, Eco Flex, some Wacker, GT Products and a few out of Polytek's materials as well. Molds are also made from Reynolds' silicones, mostly the Sorta-Clear. The only silicone mold material that has ever given me trouble when releasing has been the Smooth-Sil 960.
The only thing I would use petroleum jelly for would be to part plasters when pouring urethane rubber into them.
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Micah J.
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My understanding of the BD Silk is that its for casting over short hair so, maybe mechanical locking issues from that. We have done torso sized molds using regular Body Double that had no issues releasing from PlatSil 10 or Dragon Skin 10. Just allow the mold to fully cure, maybe even post cure with heat, before casting anything into it or you may get bonding issues from that.5
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I didn't see anything in the literature on post curing. How long and at what temp would you recomend?0
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Micah J.
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Generally 150F for about 4 hours. I've never post cured BD so maybe it is unnecessary. I would just follow the instructions for the release and give it a try. You could always do a small test area like, if it was a head mold, cast a small amount of silicone into the ear or nose.5