Something that we have been working at for over a year now is coming to you now. We have completely redesigned our molds. New design, new silicone.

Years ago when I started, I didn’t set out to become a mold maker. I originally wanted to make a singular style of mold for my business idea of craft kits. I struggled to source quality silicone molds and decided to try to make my own instead. When creating my first mold I tested two silicones, one was a clear winner, was better than other molds I had tried sourcing, and I launched. Over the years it started by adding additional Tulip sizes and then other shapes. It is fair to say by now, I am a mold maker.

Post pandemic silicone prices were increasing, so I started researching different suppliers and prices to compare what’s out there. I also started testing different design aspects to the molds I could make that would necessitate less silicone. This led me down a rabbit hole, if I was going to change my silicone, what else could I change to create a perfect design, method and silicone. 

Well here it is. Modern Craft Labs Silicone 2.0 is here.

Modern Craft Labs Silicone 2.0 is here.

First let’s talk the silicone. Since I sold my first mold in 2019 and over the past few years of new product research I have tried a varity of differet silicones. Tin cure, Urethane rubbers, a varying degree of shore hardness. I have alot of familiarity with silicones now and can say our new silicone is better in every way. 
This major difference is the color, it is a translucent silicone. I can see my pour level as I am going and if you are doing some type of layering, you can see. The other advantage is if you have pigment leaching, they are much easier to spot. This silicone is stronger, but it is also stretchier so when demolding, you don’t even notice. And even though the shore hardness has significantly changed some design changes have made them easier to demold.

Polished Edge

When using my test castings and customer images, one thing that often stood out was rough edges. While sanding does help, I couldn’t get past the idea of a better way. Queue what I am calling our Polished Edge. This will be different for each shape. In many it is added height and an angled top to make our molds deliver the best casting edge on the market. In others, it is a taller foot added to allow extra pour room. The goal is the raw edge is hidden. It lets you know what to sand off and gives you a molded, casted finished edge. On a deep curve jar like the Kira or Candle collection curve, that means extra pouring edge so that sanding it down doesn’t change the rigidity of the jar. On a jar like the Tulip or Ridge, where it is designed with a foot, that means the slightest angle on the top and added lenghth that gives you that finished edge after removing the top edges of the meniscus that forms when you pour. 

Handles

As I said before, my silicone mold design on the orignal Tulip slicone mold was suposed to be the only. As It started to build a following and people wanted more sizes and shapes, Modern Craft Labs today exists. As others on the market started to pop up, this idea of a mold following the curve became a norm. In theory, this is great. But the few we had made with this design strategy, while thinner silicone makes it easier to demold, I didn't love it. The idea of sticking fingers in molds to flip them out just didn’t seem like the best way. Queue the thought of adding a lip or handle to the top. It allows you something else to grab onto when removing the mold so that you don’t have the stick your fingers and/or risk nails along the mold. The added bonus is it adds rigidity at the top, without adding thickness. 

Casting Support

The purpose of the casting frame is supporting the inevitable slump from the weight of the medium. In our testing, anything  3" you can see it when adding a casting frame. If anyone has casted a 6” tulip, it is very obvious. Last year we dropped the height of our casting frames. We did this because in practice and use, the frame going to the top got in the way of accidental overpour. Making it shorter didn’t change the function, it still helped to support the weight.
With the new silicone being translucent, enough to see what you are pouring, the height of the frame was even more relevant. Queue our even slightly shorter casting frames. They still give all the benefits of a casting frame. They help to support the silicone wall and give support when moving casted molds. 

I am so excited to finally be able to share these molds with all of you. They add alot of functionality to a standard silicone mold and are easier to use.   

Stay In Touch

Signup to receive our newsletter and stay up to date with our latest product offerings, announcements, and more.