Use and Care of Two-Piece Plastic Molds

by Alice Marquardt

In searching through old issues of The Candlelighter, I have gotten some ideas of things that might be helpful to new and experienced members. Two-piece plastic molds are available in many shapes and sizes. They can be made to reproduce objects with considerable detail at a relatively low cost. There are some things about their use that can cause some stress for the candlemaker however. The first I think of is preparing the mold for use. I like to use masking tape to tape the sides, bottom and sometimes the top edges. If you have several of the same mold, it makes them easier to store if you tape the same side of all molds that can serve like a hinge and not remove the tape from that side. To do that the tape should not extend beyond the top and bottom edge on that side. Then when storing they can be fit one inside the other and take up less space. Next they need to be clamped. There are a number of different clamps that can be used, depending on the depth of the extensions on the sides of the mold. I like to go to the home improvement stores and look in their clamp sections and see what I can find. Business stores also have clamps that can be used. Some of the ones that I have found lately are longer and work well on molds that have deep inset parts. The one in the picture is the one that I will be using for one of my workshops at convention. I have pictured it with several of the different types of clamps I have found. Though some may seem a little on the expensive side, the time they save in trimming the seam, is well worth it in my book. When I poured this mold years ago, I drilled holes and tried to use bolts, washers and nuts to hold it in the deep set places. The halves didn¹t get lined up correctly and it was necessary to do lots of trimming. With using the clamps I am showing here, the halves were well matched and there was very little trimming needed. Time is more important to me in this situation than the cost of the clamps and they can be used over and over for other two-piece molds as well.

When the mold is clamped, I put it in a mold stand. Most of my plastic molds, I water bath for a nice finish. This is another reason for taping and clamping well. They do set up quickly as they are usually smaller molds. They will need to be poked and refilled. There are two-piece molds like some of the floater molds that water bathing would not be practical. I have a small rose floater that is an example of this. Those, I prepare a length of wick that will make several roses. I thread one end through an opening I make in the center of the top or the rose with a hot darning needle. I use tacky material over the wick to seal it and hold it in place. Then I clamp the mold on all four sides with medium size binder clips from the office store, I don¹t tape it. I lay them out on the table or counter that is covered with news paper or freezer paper works well too as the wax dribbles peel off easily and there isn¹t any print to be picked up. You probably could get roll ends of newsprint from a printer also. Then I heat the wax to about 180 degrees and add color and scent. I use a small hair dryer and warm the molds ahead of pouring them. Heating helps to give the candle a nicer finish and eliminates bubbles on the surface. I use the metal creamer or hot water pitchers from restaurants for pouring these smaller candles. These little pitchers are great for refilling candles also. (They can often be found at flea markets reasonably priced) The candles are refilled as needed. I carefully tug on the wick after the wax has set up a little being careful not to pull it through. Then I like to clip the wick up in the candle about 3⅛ to 1½ inch after the candle has set up more and before the last refill. This will keep the wick from burning through when lit and water getting into the candle and putting it out. When removing the candle from the mold, the wick is pulled through and is wicked for the next candle. The finish on the inside of the mold will deteriorate in time and especially if wax is poured at a higher temperature than recommended. It will be necessary to clean the mold and I spray with a silicone mold release. When the candle starts to stick and the candle has a cloudy surface, it is time to clean it again. Another problem with the plastic molds is that they will absorb color from the wax. In the case of the floater molds, I keep one set for light colors, one for medium intense colors and one set for dark colors. The color can be bled out to a degree with pouring clear wax but it takes several pourings for really dark colors. For trimming the seams, I use a small sharp paring knife or a ceramic trimming tool. After trimming with these, I use a piece of a nylon hose (woman¹s stocking) to polish the area to further smooth and blend.