Welcome to our guide on resin mold cleaning and proper storage!
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Keeping your resin molds clean after your epoxy has finished curing and been removed is essential to ensuring their longevity and preventing unnecessary damage to the molds themselves.
In this guide, we'll teach you some of the best methods for cleaning silicone resin molds, both before and after use.
We'll also provide tips on properly storing these molds to reduce contamination and prevent them from being damaged between projects.
Cleanup is one of the least fun aspects of epoxy projects. Perhaps you've finished making some epoxy coasters, or a resin keychain. If everything went well, the molds you used may seem fairly clean already.
Nevertheless, it's important to always give them a proper cleaning after each use, because silicone relies on a clean, smooth surface at microscopic levels to perform it's nonstick job as a resin mold.
Cleaning your silicone mold is basically a three-step process:
Preliminary cleaning
: This is an optional step using techniques that remove loose grime and debris prior to washing the mold.Primary cleaning
: This is a required step when most/all of the remaining debris is removed primarily using common dish detergents and water.Secondary cleaning
: A second optional step that weakens the bonds between silicone and any stubborn residues that remain after washing—intended for resin, but applicable to other materials as well.Step #1:
Preliminary cleaning methodsLet's start with some preliminary cleaning. These are optional methods that you'll do prior to the primary cleaning to make that task easier.
Method One: Use tape to remove loose residue, grime, and dust.
Method Two: Use adhesive putty to pull away bits of debris.
Though less effective than tape, you can use adhesive putty to remove sediment in much the same way.
Once you've finished with either of these techniques, move on to the next step.
Step #2:
Primary cleaningMuch like with washing resin from skin, primary cleaning employs the tried-and-true method of hot, sudsy water and is usually all you'll need.
Note: Consider wearing some gloves while working with hot water cleaning solutions. Hot water can heat your skin rapidly which causes it to dry out, and the dish detergent can be a skin irritant for some.
Primary cleaning method: Soaking molds in a solution of hot water and dish detergent.
Note:
Don't use a rough sponge or any other abrasive scrubber, as those can damage the silicone's smooth nonstick surface.Note:
You can also use a high-quality lint-free cloth to dry them manually. Just make sure they're actually lint-free, and you should be good. This is particularly useful if you have hard water in your area, as letting hard water evaporate naturally will often leave behind the minerals in the water, which can affect the nonstick aspect of the mold.Once the molds are dry, move onto the next step.
Step #3:
Secondary cleaning methodAt the moment, we only have one method that we consider 100% safe for stubborn resin remnants:
If hot water and detergent weren't sufficient, you can place your molds in the freezer for a short period of time to embrittle the bond between silicone and most residues (including resin).
Once you're done with this, your resin molds should finally be clean.
If after trying each of these techniques, you still have residue problems with your silicone molds, you may need to simply replace them.
Sometimes silicone develops tiny imperceptible holes that disrupt the ultra-smooth surface which enables it to be nonstick in the first place.
If this is the case, there's not really anything you can do to repair it that won't likely ruin the form of the mold and make it useless for its purpose.
Here are some tips to make sure your molds last as long as possible and to save you time on cleaning:
Other resin-related articles that may interest you:
Contact us!
If you have any questions about cleaning resin molds, or about resin in general (such as project planning), please reach out to us at UltraClear Epoxy. Our resin experts are ready to assist you.
You can contact us via phone or email here, or you can text chat online with an epoxy specialist by clicking the Help Button at the bottom right of your screen.
Oh silicon moulds, how you have improved my life so ☺️ Something I have learnt in the last few years is that good tools and materials make all the difference when it comes to creating!
I’ve already shared some of my favourite tools to use when playing around with fondant, but today’s post is going to focus on one item – silicon moulds – and the best ways to utilise them in the kitchen AND the craft room 😯
I’ve only been creating seriously for a few years, but I’ve already accumulated quite a collection of silicon moulds in that time. My collection consists of ice cube moulds, chocolate moulds, fondant moulds, and more.
It doesn’t really matter what kind of moulds they’re advertised as; if they’re made of silicon, you can use them for almost anything!
This post will feature ideas on how to best organise your collection (which can be quite difficult if they’re all different sizes, like mine), the many ways which you can use each mould, AND how to clean even the most intricate designs with all those hard-to-get places. I hope this post helps someone out there, because I know that I could have used a post like this when I first begun my silicon mould journey!
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If you are a fellow collector of collections like me, you will most likely understand the pain of trying to organise something whilst also having it on display, especially when the collection’s contents are all different sizes and shapes.
This particular collection storing is made even more difficult due to the fact that you most likely intend to actually use these items, which means they need to be easily accessible, and can be removed and replaced without disrupting the organisation of the rest of the collection.
For items such as silicon moulds, this means that simply stacking them on top of each other is out of question, as removing one from the middle would cause absolutely mayhem. The solution to this dilemma? Store them sideways!
If your moulds are being kept inside a cupboard, I recommend using an item such as a file holder or wire rack. This way, you are able to sit your moulds neatly next to each other, without any of them falling over when one is moved.
Keep in mind that I mention that those items are best for cupboard storage for a reason. If your moulds are going to be kept on an open shelf, I would instead recommend keeping them inside clear drawers or containers, so that they are visible from the outside and they will be protected from any dust particles.
Due to me not re-organising my baking shelf YET, my silicon moulds are kept out in the open so they got covered in dust often, which sticks like glue to silicon. Trust me and save yourself the headache by ensuring your moulds are kept covered away from dust!
As I said earlier in this post, it doesn’t matter what kind of moulds you buy – ice cube, chocolate, fondant, etc – as they can all be used for a range of things. However, it is VERY important that you separate your food moulds from your craft moulds.
When you’re working with mediums such as resin and polyurethane, I think it’s better to be safe than sorry and avoid having the same moulds go anywhere near food in case they haven’t been cleaned properly.
In terms of crafts, as I said above, I have used products such as resin, polyurethane, clay, and hot glue with my silicon moulds, and they’ve all worked really well – and they were easy to clean afterwards, which is also a plus!
As for foods, the sky’s the limit! Really. As long as the moulds you’re using as made of silicon, you can use them to make cakes, hard candy, gummy candy, uniquely-shaped chocolates, homemade jello, honeycomb, and much more. If there’s a specific thing you’d like to see me make with my silicon moulds, just let me know in the comments and I’d be happy to oblige!
Ahh, the downside to silicon moulds: their stickiness. If you followed my advice in lesson one about storing them AWAY from any dust particles, then this lesson should be a lot easier. If you, like me, didn’t realise how much dust could stick to silicon, then I truly feel for you.
All I can recommend is numerous periods of soaking in hot water, scrubbing and wiping until all the dust is gone. Someone on Instagram suggested using baby wipes to get the dust off, but I am yet to try that.
If you’re more concerned about cleaning food or craft products off your moulds, then this lesson won’t be too difficult, as not much sticks to silicon (except dust, apparently!), which is what makes them such great items to have. Just using a simple brush or sponge with some dishwashing soap usually does the trick!
You may need something stronger – such as rubbing alcohol – if you’ve just used a medium such as resin or polyurethane in the moulds, but I am yet to have a problem with those things. When it comes to your more detailed moulds that have tiny crevices, I recommend using mini dental floss sticks or tooth picks.
Toothpicks are good for getting out any left behind chunks, whereas the floss sticks are good for scrubbing those tiny spaces and ensuring that every surface has been cleaned. Such tiny items, but they’ve made such an impact when it comes to cleaning!
Readers of this blog come from all over the world, so the places that I personally buy my silicon moulds from might not be available where you’re from, but I know most countries have similar stores – or at least different versions – so I’m going to list them anyway.
My favourite place to buy really fun and unique silicon moulds is from Daiso, which I’m sure will be of no surprise to anyone as I am OBSESSED with that place 🙊 They have a large selection of Disney items, so I quickly snapped up their Monsters Inc silicon mould, as well as their Toy Story cookie cutters that I used in an older recipe.
Another go-to store for my moulds – both silicon and metal – is Kmart Australia, although their selection is much more limited and doesn’t change very often, unlike Daiso. The rest of my moulds are either from eBay or thrift stores.
If you’re searching for silicon moulds in either of those places, let me again mention the importance of ensuring that it is definitely silicon that they’re made of (especially if you’re going to use them in the microwave or oven!), and also that they are able to be properly cleaned before use. I once bought a silicon mould that had 10+ layers of dust on it, I swear, and I was never able to clean it well enough to use ☹️
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Silicon moulds are just so much fun to use for creating – especially since they do most of the work for you! 😂 I still have a huge list of various designs and shapes I’d like to buy, plus I’m hoping to get some Silicon Putty so I can start making my own silicon moulds!
I have a feeling my collection is going to get a LOT bigger once I have that stuff in my hands 🙌 Tell me, fellow creators, do you use silicon moulds? If so, what do you use them for? Let me know in the comments below! ☺️
Until next time,
Indya xx
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