Silicone Candle Mold- One Piece Clam Shell Mold

March 8, 2017

A silicone candle mold is a popular project that many customers ask about frequently. For this post, I’ll be doing a one piece clam shell mold from an electric candle. Candle molds can involve more than one part, depending on the complexity of the original. Often, people want to make candle molds from a glass bottle. This can be problematic because silicone will chemically bond with glass. You can apply a thick coat of silicone to silicone mold release to the bottle before pouring the silicone, but if any little spot is missed, the silicone will fuse to the bottle. A safer (but more time and resource consuming) way is to make a latex mold of the glass bottle and then cast plaster into the latex mold. Paint the plaster copy and make a silicone mold from the plaster copy. The electric candle I used as my original for this project is made of wax, which is fine for silicone.

Materials needed:

  • Candle wax (I used paraffin wax I purchased at a grocery store)
  • Candle wicks (Purchased at a craft store)
  • AeroMarine Products 128 Pourable Silicone
  • Original part (I used an old, broken electric candle)
  • Mold box (or cardboard and hot glue to make one)
  • Scale
  • Mixing container and mixing utensils
  • Non-sulfur modeling clay
  • Candle wax colorant and/or scent (optional)
  • X-Acto knife
  • gloves

Your work area:

  • Clean, level work surface, covered in paper or plastic for easier clean-up.
  • All materials comfortably within reach.

Project steps:

  • For this silicone candle mold, I want to position my original upside in the mold. That is, I want the top of the candle anchored to the bottom of the mold box. This will make it possible to anchor the wick to the bottom of the candle when pouring the wax.
  • Since I was using an electric candle as an original, I sealed the battery casing with some clay to prevent any silicone from seeping in.

 

  • Then I anchored the candle using the same clay to the bottom of my mold box, which is just a plastic gallon mixing container in this case.

  • I mixed up my AeroMarine Products 128 Pourable Silicone according to the directions (10:1 silicone to catalyst by weight) and poured it into my mold box. For more specific directions on using this silicone, refer back to this blog post, https://www.aeromarineproducts.com/two-part-pourable-silicone-pumpkin-mold/
  • After my silicone had set for 24 hours, I cut the mold box apart to easily release the silicone candle mold.

  • I then used an X-acto knife to make two cuts through the silicone on opposite sides of the mold. This is the clam shell part. I cut slightly less than halfway down the mold. This makes it much easier to pop the wax candle out without damaging it.

 

  • Once the original was out, I started heating up my paraffin wax on a stove top. I used blue painter’s tape to tape the clam shell part closed. I used a glue gun to anchor the wick to the bottom of the silicone candle mold. Nothing actually bonds to silicone (except more silicone) but this provides a good mechanical bond that will hold the wick to the bottom while the wax solidifies. I also used a fork glued to the side of the mold to hold the wick in place at the top of the mold.

  • The wax took maybe 15 minutes on low heat to melt completely, then i mixed in the red colorant and a caramel scent oil.

  • Next, I carefully poured it in to the silicone candle mold. As you can see, I still made a bit of a mess and I was a little short on wax. Next time I will know that this mold needs one and a half packs of paraffin wax. This is why I keep a notebook of mold making projects where I write down how much of what material was used in the molding and casting of each project and the results. This way, I don’t repeat the same mistakes.

  • After two hours, I removed the tape and trimmed the wick. I pulled the mold slightly apart to check how firm the wax was. It seemed a little soft, so I didn’t de-mold it yet.

  • I ended up letting the wax set up over night, just to be sure the wax had hardened enough to be removed from the mold without damaging it. I removed the tape and pulled the mold apart while pushing on the bottom of the mold to pop the candle out.

Even though it got a little messy and I ran a little short on wax, the candle turned out nicely. The important thing is that now I know exactly how much wax I need to melt for the next pour to turn out perfect.  I wrote it down in my molding and casting log book so I don’t forget. If you have any questions about this or any other projects, send us an email at AeroMarine Products.com

 

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