Making silicone molds and candles is easy! I started off with a 3D print of a 3" cactus from thingiverse.com. You can use lots of items to make a mold, I recommend using something small and simple for your first attempt.
You will need a few materials to create your mold: a hot glue gun, extra glue sticks, a small cardboard square, sturdy card stock, a paper cup, popsicle stick, scissors, and a ruler is helpful but not necessary. Most important is your silicone! I used Dragon Skin 30, but nearly any Smooth-On product will work. I‘ve used the purple Liquid Rubber Oomoo 30 silicone and would recommend it if you’re attempting to make something fragile with thin parts, as it’s a little more flexible than the dragon skin!
First, glue your object to the center of the cardboard square. It is helpful to have an even coat of glue between the base and cardboard as the silicone will likely seep in between the two when setting.
Next, roughly measure out your card stock, you’ll want to cut it long enough to ‘wrap’ around your object. The height depends on how tall your object is, cut it to be about .5" taller like in photograph below:
Then it’s time to hot glue your card stock to the cardboard. Bend the card stock around your object so that it is close but not touching. This reduces waste and helps keep your mold flexible instead of bulky!
It may take a few minutes for the gobs of hot glue to dry, but it is important to use enough to ensure there is a tight seal between the card stock and cardboard. Your silicone will be wasted if there isn’t because it will ooze out the sides as it sets. If you’re using a wax paper cup and a flat plastic surface instead of cardboard and card stock, you can double check the seal with a splash of water. If the water leaks out the sides, glue it up! Take care to seal up the card stock seam too!
Time to mix part A and B of your silicone! I eyeballed my measurement, which is one to one. I like to use a popsicle stick to stiras it is dense and difficult to mix. Another benefit of using the Liquid Rubber Oomoo 30 is that the two parts are blue and pink, when mixed the silicone turns purple so it is easy to tell when it’s thoroughly mixed. The Dragon Skin stays the same opaque clear color.
Pour enough of the mixed silicone over your object until the top is completely covered. Bubbles will inevitably occur! Help bring them to the surface by lifting the mold into the the air a couple inches and dropping it onto a table a few times.
I let the silicone set for 24 hours before ‘breaking’ it open. You can see below how my seal wasn’t perfect and I lost some of the silicone. This didn’t hurt my mold however, as there was still enough to cover the top of my cactus.
Time to tear away the card stock and card board! Eventually all I have left is the silicone mold. Because of my object’s shape I can’t just pop it out, I will have to make some incisions. You can use scissors or an exacto knife, whichever is easier!
Cut enough so that you can get your object out. If you need to you can cut it completely in half! Sometimes it is helpful to have a buddy assist in removing your object. Once it is free it is time to start melting the candle wax. Cleaning wax out of pot isn’t fun, you might want to invest one. I found an old one at thrift store with a nice handle and indented area for pouring-perfect for wax melting!
In addition to candle wax, you will need some wicks. If you’re going for a fancy candle you can add colors and smells too! While the wax is melting you can place your wick through the top of your mold. I use a big eyed sewing needle to partially thread the wick:
Use some scissors to help flatten the wick to fit!
Pull the wick through the stop of your mold and stop when the little metal bit is near the bottom of the mold.
Next you will need to tighten up the mold using some masking tape or similar. I used masking tape to make sure the bits I had to cut open were sealed shut again. I was very impressed with the color mixing chart that came with the dye and scents-so extensive!
This is where having extra paper cups comes in handy. Instead of putting the dye bits into the large melting pot, I did little samples of colors in my cups here. Keeping them near my hot plate prevented them from cooling too quickly while taking photographs of my steps here.
Once you have some satisfyingly colored wax, pour it into your mold. If you’re impatient like me, you can stick the mold in the freezer for a bit to help the wax cool faster. Be aware though if you leave it in too long, and let it get cold throughout, the wax turns brittle and small details become fragile! Let is warm back up to room temperature if you are wary of breakage.
I hope this tutorial has been helpful, please let me know if you have any questions!
Below are my more recent attempts at making 3D printed candles. I used the rubbery Oomoo Tin-Cure silicone. It has more flexibility than the dragon skin silicone, but still takes about the same amount of time to set. Additionally I coated all of my 3D prints with XTC-3D resin. This is great stuff! It gets rid of the thin lines you’d normally see on a 3D print. It’s important not to overcoat an object, as the resin will pool at the base if you put too much on at once!
