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Use this cheap DIY silicone mold material to create fur texture stamps for your animal sculptures.
But keep the windows open because this stuff stinks!
So far, I’ve tried my new texture stamps with WED clay and with my own recipe for air dry clay. They should also work very well with Apoxie Sculpt or any other epoxy clay, and they might work with polymer clay. I don’t have any polymer clay at the moment so I can’t test it. If you try it, be sure to let us know how it turned out.
Make sure you watch the King of Random’s video, too. “How To Make “Proto-Putty” (Modified Oogoo).”
You might also want to watch this video:
If you watch his video and notice anything that I missed, please let me know in the comment section below.
In addition to the three fur textures that I created, I also made a fast silicone mold of the teeth on my resin skull. I tried to make a casting using my plaster cloth, but I was too impatient. I took the mold off when the plaster was still too fragile. However, the mold itself came out perfectly, and I’m sure my next try will work well (if I can wait long enough to let the plaster get hard…)
In case you’re wondering, the patterns for all the animal sculptures on the wall behind me in the video can be found here. If you use the air dry clay and the DIY texture stamps with any of those patterns, I’d really like to see how your sculpture comes out. In fact, we’d all love to see it, so be sure to post a photo on the Daily Sculptors page.
Step-by-Step Instructions for Making DIY Silicone Mold Texture Stamps for Clay
Step 1: Gather your supplies.
Items used to make the silicone texture stamps:
- Silicone #1 caulk (or try your local hardware store. My local store didn’t have the right kind so I had to order it)
- Food coloring (or just get some at your local grocery store)
- Latex-free gloves. (Silicone doesn’t like latex, so latex gloves could keep the caulk from curing – but that’s just a guess based on my experience with other types of silicone mold-making material)
- Wood craft sticks.
- Paper bowls from the grocery store.
- Fake fur – from Jo-Ann Fabric Store. Also be sure to check your local thrift store for some fake fur on collars or stuffed animals. They might have fake leather in the wallet section that would be fun to use, too. Please don’t try this with your mom’s sable stole (or your cat’s tail. 😀 )
- DIY Air Dry Clay recipe.
Step 2: Put the caulk and food coloring in a paper bowl.
There is no exact formula for this. Sometimes I used a lot of food coloring, and sometimes I used a little. It didn’t seem to make any difference.
Step 3: Mix the food coloring and caulk.
The food coloring helps you see if the caulk has been thoroughly mixed.
Step 4: Put the mixture in the bowl with the corn starch.
This is a lot harder than it looks, because the mixture is really sticky. And by now you’ve also noticed that it stinks like crazy. Make sure your windows are open. If possible, have a fan blowing air out the window, and make sure all pets and kids are not in the room.
The smell comes from Acetic acid, the stuff that makes vinegar stink. You don’t want to breathe a lot of it, and your cat doesn’t want to breathe it at all.
Step 5: Mix until the goo isn’t sticky.
This is also harder than it looks, because little pockets of sticky goo will be hiding in the mixture. You need to mix it until it isn’t sticky, so you can easily remove it from the fake fur you use for your texture.
But you also don’t want to take so long that you end up with a lump of hard rubber in your hand.
Step 6: Press the silicone onto the fake fur to create your texture stamp.
Press down firmly, but don’t slide the silicone. You don’t want it to be pushed under the hairs in your fake fur, because it could trap the hairs. That would make it very difficult to pull off the fur after the silicone cures.
Now just wait ten to twenty minutes, until the silicone is stiff enough to pull away from the fur without tearing. You can then use your new stamp to create textures on clay.
Try different textures to find the one that works best for your project. If you’ll need to cover a fairly large area with the new fake fur texture, make several stamps so you can use them randomly. This will help make the fur look more natural.
Have fun with it. And be sure to post a photo of your project is you use this method to make some DIY silicone mold texture stamps. We’d all love to see how your project turns out.
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I used this method to make soap molds for some skulls and it worked great! I was worried they wouldn’t be flexible enough to get the soap out but it stretched and didn’t tear. Thank you for finding this and sharing it and its possibilities.
I appreciate this tutorial! I have seen it on youtube, but who knows if things there will work or not. When you see someone you trust doing it, then it gives you courage to try it yourself. Thank you! I need to make some silicone molds for various things, and this gives me the courage to try. Greatly appreciate that you showed us this. Very appreciative! Blessings to you. Happy Crafting!
Chrissie, I hope you’ll let us know what you think of this process once you’ve had a chance to try it.
Love the texture stamp idea. Thank you.
You’re welcome. 🙂
Sounds great! I want to try this on wood bark for a “fairy home” project. Thanks!
Great idea. I hope you let us see how it turns out. 🙂
Gosh Jonni….you’ve done it again…given us awesome info, great instructions and expanded R&D!!!! Thank you.
Wondered if using a “rolling pin” out of PVC, etc well covered in cornstarch would be useful. I love your work…have all your books and look forward to whatever you’re up to next!!! Hugs.?
That might work, Judy. Thanks for the idea.