So...I learned an important lesson today. A lesson I wish I'd learned a very long like ago. Like 2-3 weeks ago. Like before I did all this work on the candle mold. Based on this and the title, you may be guessing what I've learned. What I learned is that cured silicone is like a bar of soap wrapped in bacon coated in Teflon. Nothing sticks to it. Uncured silicone however, is much more like...Velcro covered in maple syrup. It's sticky as hell and it's not going to take it anymore.
I found out that the mold I spent so much time and effort on, the mold I lovingly crafted over the past few weeks, is thoroughly and irrevocably stuck to the model. Le sigh. I'm a dolt, in case that part hadn't been made clear. I neglected to put any kind of mold release on the model or on the tile in the first place. My reasoning behind this, was the apparently overwhelming idea that "Nothing sticks to silicone." This is true, but only when the other substance is applied after the silicone is cured. If either substance being applied is uncured silicone, you're in for a sticky time. This is a lesson I will not soon forget.
This is what happened. The easy part was removing the cured plaster casts from the cured silicone (cured long before the plaster was applied). No problems, even without any kind of release. Then I had to cut the now-cured silicone free from the tile (no mean feat). That should've been my first clue that something was wrong. I didn't get it. Then I had to try to extricate the mold from the cured silicone. Ugh. Not at all what I was hoping for.
With the lessons I have learned, I feel like I am ready to tackle the real project. I will need to scrape the tile clean and start totally fresh, so I'll get to work on that. This time, there will be pictures.
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