[Katherine Swift]

This question was posted in a blog comment by Bonny:

Hoping you can help me as Ive scoured the net looking for answers and fixes with no success. The craft I was making was a candy toilet seat for my bathroom. My husband and I followed the instructions in the book I have, watched tutorials and researched the dickens before just diving in to make the seat. In spite of following the instructions, something went horribly wrong. The reaction was so bad that parts of the mold actually melted and warped and some of the candies literally cooked and melted. After letting it set up, I was able to take the seat out of the mold and in feeling mold, there are ripples and some bubbles in places where the reaction was intense it melted the plastic. To say I was disappointed is an understatement because we followed the directions and cant figure out where it went wrong. The first two layers went fine. It all seemed to go kablooey in the last pour/set up. Do you know if I attempted to try the seat again, will the ripples be able to be sanded out so the seat is smooth as it should have been or is it a total loss on that part of the mold? If the seat part is a total loss, do you know of anyone who sells just one piece instead of the set? In your experience, can you explain as to why this reacted the way it did and if reattempted what should be done differently? Appreciate any input as this project has been a huge disappointment.

[Katherine Swift]

Bonny,

Im sorry to hear it went so wrong.  How frustrating!  Heres what I suspect the problem to be:

When resin is mixed, a chemical reaction occurs that allows the resin to cure.  This chemical reaction produces heat.  Since you were filling a toilet seat, Im assuming you mixed a bunch of resin at once.  Lots of resin = lots of heat.  Im not surprised that is melted the mold.  For future castings, I would suggest pouring in several layers rather than all at once.

As for the mold you have now, I suppose its up to you as to what you want to do next.  A piece that large could require a lot of sanding.  Personally, I would much rather buy a new mold rather than sand that much.

[Author]

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