Give New Life to Old Molds

Reusing Old Plastic Film Molds

I found some thin light aluminum molds of flowers, leaves, petals. They were originally made to use with Popeil Liquid Plant Plastic.

I have contacted the company and they no longer make it. (It's the guy that does the SET IT AND FORGET IT commercials). Well now I have these molds and don't want to throw them away.

I found that I can melt crayons, spoon into molds and they set with nice crisp designs. Course I need to know how to preserve.

I was thinking decoupage over the crayon flowers and leaves would protect it and use to decorate frames and whatever.

But I thought maybe there was something else. Any suggestions appreciated. My aunt had these back in the late 50's and 60's when she had a handcraft shop.

Thank You

Patiann

I took a trip down memory lane on this one. Of course I remember Ron Popeil with his fascinating inventions and his unique advertising style, "It slices, it dices, it ..." There was the Dial-O-Matic, the Veg-O-Matic, the Mince-O-Matic, the Bass-O-Matic and the Plastic Flower Making Kit - which unfortunately I don't remember. So working from the description you gave me, I can make a few comments. Also, I found a medium for you to try that will serve better than melted crayons.

I don't think there is a way to really preserve the crayons. When exposed to sunlight or heat, they will melt. If I understand the type of molds you have, the petals are quite thin; meaning it won't take much heat at all to soften and deform the shapes you have so carefully molded.

Here's the good news: liquid plastic for molding is still available. It's called Smooth-On Smooth-Cast liquid plastic compound.

This is a white liquid plastic. Once mixed, Smooth-Cast has a pot life (remains workable) for three minutes. Drying time is less than 10 minutes. Your thin petals would probably dry in four or five minutes. You can also paint Smooth-Cast after casting. This allows you to do shading as well as flat colors.

Smooth-On Smooth-Cast 325 ColorMatch Liquid Plastic Compound liquid plastic compound would also work. It is an amber colored resin that can be tinted before casting. Its drawback is a long cure time - up to 45 minutes.

Here are two users' reviews of Smooth-Cast 300. "This stuff is great! Easy 1 to 1 mixing. Picked up all the detail from the smallest parts I was casting. Can quickly be pulled from the mold, you can do several pulls an hour. Easy to work with after pulling it from the mold. Highly recommended."

"Very easy to use. Picks up all the fine detail if you are making a copy of anything. I think it is a great product and would recommend it to anyone."

I hope this answers your question, if not let me know. Otherwise send me a picture of the finished product to put up on the site.