You’ve created the perfect resin casting. Or at least you thought you did. You try demolding your resin only to find you can’t get it out of the mold. Now what? How are you going to get resin out of the mold?
Here are six of my favorite resin tricks to help you get your resin unstuck.
Trick 1: Add soapy water
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The best-case scenario is that your resin isn’t stuck at all. It might be that the resin is simply hard to demold and needs a little help. All you need to do is add soapy water to the mold, then squish it around while squeezing the mold. This makes the resin slippery and easier to release from the mold.
Trick 2: Put the mold in the freezer.
If the resin is partially cured, put it in your freezer for 10 to 30 minutes. Then, remove the mold and try demolding again. You can also slap the mold on a hard surface to break the bond between the mold and the resin. With any luck, your resin will pop out.
Trick 3: Put the mold in a hot water bath.
Create a very hot water bath and set the resin mold in the bath for five to ten minutes. The heat might allow the silicone to expand, releasing the resin.
Trick 4: Add more resin.
If you have enough room in your mold, you can try adding another layer of well-mixed resin to what is already in the mold. The new resin will bond to the old resin. This is especially helpful if your first pour of resin didn’t cure. You may need to try this several times to remove all the resin.
If the above options don’t work, I’m afraid I don’t have good news for you.
Use these next how to get resin out of a mold tricks knowing they might ruin your resin mold.
Trick 5: Apply heat
You can apply light heat to a silicone mold with a heat gun while peeling the mold away from the resin. Unfortunately, this can make the resin stick to the mold even more in places, causing it to tear.
Trick 6: Soak and scrape
This is the last-ditch effort to get uncured resin out of molds. You can soak the resin-filled mold in acetone, then chip and scrape away at the softened resin. But I’ve found this method quite tedious, and it almost always destroys the mold.
Are you frustrated with making resin mistakes that waste your time and money?
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Unpublished Blog Posts of Resin Obsession, LLC © 2023 Resin Obsession, LLC
My resin would not release. I ended up losing the mold. Is there anyway to clean the mold off my resin art? The mold ended up ripping and leaving pieces stuck to my piece. Sanding did not help.
Hi Jennifer, I’m afraid there isn’t.
Try
1) fine grit sandpaper to the mold that is stuck to the part you cast then polish the surface layer with a clear coat of your choice
2) heat gun and tweezers take the heat gun far away from mold but close enough to administer a touch of heat and slowly use tweezers to peel off parts that have stuck polish to refinish
3) Q-tip soaked in acetone and tweezers lightly apply soaked Q tip to the edges of sections that have stuck and slowly use the tweezers to pull it away wipe all the moisture you can off and polish to refinish
4) last ditch micro saw away the bits of stuck mold, sand and polish to refinish
I made cubes out of resin for my son’s anime figures to lean and sit on. I fought with the smaller cube for the seated figures twice to get the resin cubes out and just wanted to scream. When it came to the larger one, I figured it would be easier because the mold was thinner. However, when it didn’t budge, I was afraid of tearing it to remove the resin cube.
I just knew I couldn’t do that, so I googled what to do to remove a resin item from a tight mold, and this is one of the answers that came up. I tried the soap (Dawn dishwashing liquid) inside the cube, and the resin cube slipped right out! I was so excited that I told everyone in the house I figured it out.
I just want to thank you so much for this page because you saved me a lot of work and perhaps even a mold. I will use this trick with every problem mold from now one. I appreciate your help with this.
You’re quite welcome, Dawn. I’m glad it worked for you.
I use alcohol first. Then I use acetone. The chemical reaction seems to work. DO NOT MIX THEM TOGETHER. Try them separately. It worked for me and saved my mold.
I’m new to resin, first project went off without at hitch, but wanted a less bubbles, so I used a lighter to zap em on my second project. Oops! I believe that made the silicone stick to my project. Thank you for your thorough explanations on troubleshooting! It’s in the freezer now, so here’s hoping it works!
i have a silicon mould of an owl i have a lot of trouble trying to roll the mould downwards to get the owl out it actually takes the two of us to remove it .help me please
Spray some alcohol down the inside of the mold and try to rub it around. It will loosen the resin from the mold.
hOT WATER AND DAWN SOAP SOAK FOR A While.
Hot water did the trick for my inside out resin mold. Thank you for the help
Glad to help!
Soapy water saved the mold and my project. Thanks!!
awesome!!