Any kind of clay modeling, casting or life casting – whether you are making a candle, a candy, a statue or even an arm or a full body begins with making a mold. Since you have to make a mold before proceeding to making the final cast, preparing the mold with great care and caution is imperative. This is because only if the mold is properly made, will your final cast turn out well.

Therefore, all mold makers and life casters pay careful attention to the crucial task of making a mold – right from choosing an appropriate mold making material like alginate, moulage, clay, wax, silicone rubber, latex or polyurethane resin to using the right equipment and techniques for making perfect molds. Even a vibrating table, pressure pot or vacuum chamberis used to de-air the mold material and thus eliminate the possibility of pesky and unsightly bubbles surfacing in the final mold. Similar attention is reserved for the choice of casting material that will be used for preparing the final cast.

But what about a suitable release agent? This too is crucial in rubber, resin or clay modeling as it prevents the mold making material from sticking to the original piece that is to be cast. Even when you are preparing the final cast, a release agent works to keep the casting material from sticking to the mold. So can you afford to overlook this important requirement in your mold making and casting activities?

Some artists use simple oils or even petroleum jelly to separate their molds and final casts. But dedicated release agents always work better as they allow easier separation in de-molding. Even if a material like silicone rubber does not inherently require a release agent, use of a release agent will work to significantly increase the life of the mold. Furthermore, skin and hair release agents are imperative in life casting to prevents alginate tangles and such issues.

And finally, don’t forget to finish off your cast with elegant name plates engraved.

EnvironMolds, LLC is a leading manufacturer of molding and casting products that are environment-friendly and user-safe. It has almost 100 dealers across USA and sells its high-quality products in 14 countries around the world. It was recently awarded the prestigious 2013 Summit Award for Artists’ Materials. For further details email at [email protected] or call 1-866 278-6653 (toll free in USA), 1-908-273-5401 (international)
Address: EnvironMolds, LLC, 18 Bank Street, Suite 1, Summit, NJ 07901.