How to create private silicone mats?
This article mainly introduces the advantages, production equipment, production process, etc. of silicone molds. If you want to create your own silicone mold brand or business, and have a clear understanding of the advantages, application areas, design, and production process of silicone molds, please go through this article. Silicone molds have the advantages of high and low temperature resistance -40-230°C, Recyclable, and environmental protection. They are widely used ：
- Food manufactured industry: used to make candy, chocolate, jelly, etc.
- Pharmaceutical industry: used to make medical equipment and drug packaging
- Crafts production: used to make art crafts, replica paintings, sculptures, etc.
- DIY activities: used to make personalized products such as handmade soap, candles, ceramics, etc.
What is the silicone mold?
Silicone mold is a mold made of silicone material, mainly used to replicate various crafts, toys, gifts, decorations, etc.
Silicone molds have the characteristics of high simulation, high temperature resistance, corrosion resistance, and strong tear resistance, and are suitable for the production of various crafts.
The silicone molds can be different shape and size. Z.S.R offer high quality custom solution for silicone molds. We work with big and small companies to accomplish the project at high end. The silicone molds can be unique shaping designs and Complex shapes and different varieties of silicone candy molds, silicone baking molds, Silicone Mold for Candles, Soap, Crafts, silicone Gummy molds, silicone baking molds, silicon molds for hard candy, silicone mold for chocolate, candy, soap making, candle making, soap crafting, and resin art, cake and cookie decorating, clay crafts, resins, soaps and wax melts Non-Stick Food Grade Silicone Molds for Chocolate, Jelly, Ice Cube cake decorations, dozens of craft projects, cakelike molds, dessert molds, chocolate molds, hot cocoa bomb molds, silicone lollipop molds. The silicone molds working range of between -40 to 240 degrees.
Silicone molds are widely used in many fields, including toys, crafts, gifts, decorations, sculptures, etc. Due to its high simulation, convenient production, environmental protection and health, silicone molds are also very popular in DIY handmade products, such as cakes, ice cream, bread, chocolate and other food molds. In addition, silicone molds also have high temperature resistance, low temperature resistance, good weather resistance, tear resistance, strong chemical stability and other characteristics, making them widely used in various industries.
What are the advantages of silicone molds?
Flexibility and high temperature resistance: Silicone molds have good flexibility and can adapt to items of various shapes and sizes, making them easy to make. At the same time, they have high temperature resistance (-40-230 C) and are not easy to deform, age or break during use.
High safety and environmental protection: Silicone molds are solidified from solid or liquid silicone, and the main component is silicone material, which is harmless to the human body and ensures the safety and health of operators. In addition, the environmental protection of silicone molds occupies an important position in sustainable development and meets environmental protection requirements.
Durability and easy cleaning: Silicone molds have high durability and can be used repeatedly without being easily damaged. In addition, silicone molds are particularly easy to clean, whether by hand or machine, and are especially suitable for home use.
Z.S.R offers various Custom silicone molds with different shape and colors for different industry used such as kitchenware, homeware, bakeware, Promotional etc.
silicone molds
Materials, Tools, Equipment
According to the molded products making process, there are 5 ways of silicone molding process: silicone rubber compression molding, LSR injection molding, silicone Drip molding, silicone Extrusion Molding, silicone Calendaring molding. Here in Z.S.R, For silicone molds, we only have 4 molding process capacity. The different molding process need the different material, tools and equipment:
Silicone compression molding
Silicone Compression Molding
The main materials required for the production of silicone molds include silicone raw material, crosslinking agent, catalyst, filler and additives. These materials working together to get the silicone molds. Usually, silicone rubber raw material, crosslinking agent and filler are made into one component, and catalyst is a separate component. Therefore, mold silicone products is also called two-component vulcanized silicone products. In Z.S.R, All the silicone raw material we used is FDA or LFGB approved 100% Food Grade silicone rubber. The crosslinking agent, catalyst is Platinum if you needed.
The solid silicone rubber silicone mold cost is relatively low. The silicone mold produced can also reach environmentally friendly food grade, with high-quality Food Grade material, which is the choice of many consumers from USA, Australia.
Molded silicone molds are usually made by putting solid silicone raw materials with added vulcanizers into high-temperature molds and applying pressure through a vulcanizing machine, and then solidifying them at high temperature. The hardness of molded silicone mold is usually between 30°C and 70°C. The raw materials are matched with color paste to adjust the color according to the Pantone color card number. The shape of the mold determines the shape of the molded silicone mold. Molded silicone molds are the most widely used in the silicone industry.
Material preparation:Choice the correct standard material according to your products function and test standard, such as FDA or LFGB material.
Silicone rubber mixer: The silicone rubber material mixer is used to mix the raw materials with additives such as vulcanizer and color paste. used to add vulcanizer, masterbatch and other auxiliary materials to the raw materials, and refine the raw rubber into usable raw rubber. Z.S.R have 2 Silicone rubber mixer workshop and machine to mixed the material for your silicone molds.
Silicone Rubber cutter: cuts the refined silicone molderial into the required size and weight for making products. Z.S.R have 2 silicone rubber cutting machine to cut the material for your silicone molds.
Electronic scale: Weight the cutted silicone rubber mixed material to ensure that the product is within the error range. We have more than 60 Electronic scales for each silicone compression molding machine.
Mold preparation: Before the silicone molds making, Make the corresponding mold according to the product design requirements. The shape and size of the mold determine the shape and size of the product. The mold material is usually Steel or aluminum alloy (prototype tooling). Z.S.R International Group (HONG KONG) CO., LIMITED in-house tool shop consists 6 sets of advanced CNC machining centers and 3 sets of EDM spark machines for tooling; So, we can make most of the silicone mold tooling and repair the silicone mold tooling in our factory to catch up your time needed. The complete mold work shop can help you develop your new design silicone products and offer the creative silicone molds OEM & ODM service for you.
Molding stage: Install the prepared mold on the vulcanizer to ensure that the mold fits well and is well sealed. the hydraulic compress molding machine (also known as the flat vulcanizer) provides the pressure, mold temperature and vulcanization time required for molding; After the mold is heated to the appropriate temperature, the prepared silicone raw material is placed in the mold for molding. During the molding process, parameters such as temperature, pressure and time need to be controlled to ensure that the product is molded completely and the size is accurate.Z.S.R have 32 sets silicone rubber molding machine to molded your silicone products.
The sandblasting machine is used to clean the molding mold and keep the production process clean.
Post-processing: The silicone molds need to be post-processed such as deburring, cleaning, and drying to improve the appearance quality and durability of the product
Quality inspection: Quality inspection is an important link to ensure the quality of silicone products, including appearance inspection, size measurement, performance testing and other aspects. Only products that have undergone strict quality inspection can be shipped out of the factory.
Packaging and shipment: Products that have passed quality inspection need to be packaged and shipped. The selection of packaging materials should comply with relevant standards and requirements to ensure that the product is not damaged during transportation.
Z.S.R one day mass production capability for 15000-59999/pcs silicone molds according to the structure and size with the 32 sets molding machines.
Contact Z.S.R to create your own silicone molds.
Would like to know more about silicone compression molding or how to make molded silicone rubber products, check silicone-compression-mold
L.S.R injection molding
Liquid Silicone Rubber (LSR) Injection Molding
Liquid silicone injection molding mainly uses liquid silicone rubber (LSR) material. LSR is a two-component thermosetting material, usually mixed in the form of A/B components. Component A contains a platinum catalyst, while component B contains a cross-linking agent. LSR is in a liquid state before curing and becomes an elastomer after curing.
The liquid silicone processing is relatively high cost. It is processed with liquid silicone rubber with water-like silicone mold material. The Liquid silicone rubber silicone molds feels more softer, has better rebound, and the parting line is smaller than that of solid silicone. However, the minimum order of the silicone mold is higher. And the LSR silicone mold’s injection mold cost is higher also.
Material preparation: Choose the appropriate liquid silicone type based on a comprehensive assessment of the product’s purpose, properties, shape, etc. For example, the medical industry should choose medical-grade silicone molderials, and infant products generally use highly transparent food-grade liquid silicone raw materials. Prepare the appropriate color paste so that it can be mixed to achieve the final LSR molded product color that customer needed.
Mixing equipment: It is used to mix the liquid silicone of components A and B to ensure accurate proportions and uniform mixing. Common mixing equipment includes static mixers and vacuum tanks, etc.
Vacuum pump: used to remove bubbles from liquid silicone to ensure that the surface of the molded product is smooth and flawless.
Mixing container and stirring rod: containers and tools used to mix liquid silicone to ensure uniform mixing
Mold preparation
Silicone Injection Mold: The mold is the carrier for liquid silicone injection molding. Its design and manufacturing must consider factors such as the fluidity of silicone, shrinkage after solidification, and the shape, size and wall thickness of the product. The precision and durability of the mold have a direct impact on the quality of the final product. Z.S.R have 12 experienced engineer will consider your molded LSR products structure and design your silicone injection mold with the correct parting line and gate. Then Z.S.R team will make your precision injection tooling in our one roof mold workshop.
Injection molding machine: The injection molding machine is the core equipment for liquid silicone injection molding, which is used to inject the mixed liquid silicone into the mold. Common types of injection molding machines include vertical injection molding machines and horizontal injection molding machines. Vertical injection molding machines are suitable for small-batch production and automatic molding of complex products, while horizontal injection molding machines are suitable for large-scale production, especially in the production of products that require high precision and smooth surfaces. Such as silicone baby nipple, baby pacifier or silicone medical products. The mold needs to be preheated to 170~200℃, and the liquid silicone is injected into the mold through the injection molding machine. The injection pressure and temperature need to be precisely controlled.
Curing: Liquid silicone undergoes a curing reaction at high temperature, and the catalyst accelerates the curing process
Demolding and post-processing: The cured LSR silicone molds needs to be demolded from the mold, and some products may also require post-curing treatment, cleaning and removal of impurities
Quality control: Products must undergo strict quality inspections, including tests on size, hardness, transparency and elasticity
Packaging and transportation: Products that pass quality inspections will be cleanly packaged and shipped to the location specified by the customer
Z.S.R own 7 sets LSR injection molding machine to put your LSR silicone molds on mass production.
Z.S.R one day mass production capability for 10000-69999/pcs silicone molds according to the structure and size with the 7 sets molding machines. Liquid injection molding is very friendly to silicone products with high precision, high requirements and large-scale production to ensure product consistency, and is the most suitable choice.
Want to know more information about LSR molding or how to make L.S.R molded silicone rubber products, check: Liquid silicone rubber LSR injection molding.
Contact Z.S.R to create your own L.S.R silicone molds.
Silicone Dripping dispensing molding
Multi-Color Dripping Molding
Need prepare silicone as the main material for dispensing molding, usually liquid silicone (LSR) and solid silicone, color paste, vulcanizer, and also need silicone vacuum machine and automatic dispensing machine. As this kind of molding have two kind of molding process. We also call them co-injection molding. Mixed L.S.R material dripping from the automatic dispensing machine first, then heat and curing. Put the solid silicone rubber material on and close the molds put them silicone vacuum machine Vulcanization molding.
L.S.R Material prepared
Choose the appropriate liquid silicone type based on a comprehensive assessment of the product’s purpose, properties, shape, etc. For example, the medical industry should choose medical-grade silicone materials, and infant products generally use highly transparent food-grade liquid silicone raw materials. Prepare the appropriate color paste so that it can be mixed to achieve the final LSR molded product color that customer needed.
Solid silicone material prepared
Silicone rubber mixer: The silicone rubber material mixer is used to mix the raw materials with additives such as vulcanizer and color paste. used to add vulcanizer, masterbatch and other auxiliary materials to the raw materials, and refine the raw rubber into usable raw rubber. Z.S.R have 2 Silicone rubber mixer workshop and machine to mixed the material for your silicone mats.
The silicone dripping Molding process cost is higher than compression molding and LSR molding with manufacturing colorful silicone products.
It enables the combination of two silicone molds material, solid silicone rubber and liquid silicone rubber, into a single product stream and can get the multi-color and 3D effect silicone molds without any printed.
Mixing equipment: It is used to mix the liquid silicone of components A and B to ensure accurate proportions and uniform mixing. Common mixing equipment includes static mixers and vacuum tanks, etc.
Vacuum pump: used to remove bubbles from liquid silicone to ensure that the surface of the molded product is smooth and flawless.
Mixing container and stirring rod: containers and tools used to mix liquid silicone to ensure uniform mixing.
Silicone Rubber cutter: cuts the refined silicone materials into the required size and weight for making products. Z.S.R have 2 silicone rubber cutting machine to cut the material for your silicone molds.
Electronic scale: Weight the cutted silicone rubber mixed material to ensure that the product is within the error range. We have more than 60 Electronic scales for each silicone compression molding machine.
Mold preparation
Mold: The mold is a key component of drop molding, usually made of aluminum mold, brass mold, electroplating or silicone mold. The design and production of the mold have an important impact on the quality and appearance of the product. The Z.S.R team has rich experience in making silicone drop molding molds, from Bing Dwen Dwen colorful ribbons to Disney characters, they can be perfectly reproduced.
Drop molding machine: This is the core equipment for silicone drop molding. It is mainly used to move the dispensing needle of LSR material that has been vacuum scheduled to the specified position of the drop molding mold, and control the amount of dispensing by controlling the time of extruding the paste resin and the speed of the needle moving. The drop molding machine is mainly composed of two parts: the control system and the machine structure. Commonly used control systems include LOGOSHOP, CRS-Drip Mold, etc.Adjust the glue dispensing speed, glue dispensing position and glue dispensing thickness of the glue dispenser according to the requirements of the product. Ensure the normal operation and glue dispensing effect of the glue dispenser. After debugging, conduct a trial run to ensure that the glue dispenser can work stably and accurately.
Molding stage: Place the mold under the glue dispenser, control the glue dispensing position and speed of the glue dispenser, and accurately drip the silicone mixture onto the mold. According to the needs of the product, glue can be dispensed multiple times until the required thickness and shape are achieved.
Heating equipment for silicone curing: During the drop molding process, heating is required to make LSR resin react chemically and become solid. Therefore, heating equipment is essential. Place the glued product in a constant temperature area to cure the silicone in few minutes.
Second Molding stage: Put the cutted mixed solid silicone rubber material on the curred LSR, then closed the mold and put the mold to hydraulic compress molding machine (also known as the flat vulcanizer) provides the pressure, mold temperature and vulcanization time required for molding; The vulcanization temperature and pressure are adjusted according to the silicone raw material and product requirements. Z.S.R have 16 sets silicone dripping molding line to molded your multi-colored silicone products.
Cooling and demolding: After the vulcanization is completed, remove the mold from the vulcanizer, open the mold after cooling to room temperature, and take out the silicone mold.
Post-processing: The silicone mold is trimmed, deburred, and other treatments are performed to achieve the ideal shape and surface quality.
Z.S.R own 16 sets dripping molding line to put your multi-colored silicone molds on mass production.
Z.S.R one day mass production capability for 12000-39999/pcs silicone molds according to the structure and size with the 12 dripping molding lines. Silicone dripping molding is very friendly to silicone products with multi-colored, 3D effect, IP and cute products to ensure the products with colorful and 3D effect without post printing.
Contact Z.S.R to custom your multi-colored cute silicone molds products.
Would like to know more about co-injection dripping molding or how to make multi-colored silicone molded products, check: Co injection dripping molding.
The customization process for create your private silicone molds
In Z.S.R, we can custom the silicone molds shape, size, color, pattern, brands, logo by silkscreen printing, full-color printing, or laser engraving for your silicone products, if you would like to custom your brands silicone molds contact Z.S.R.
Customizable Content:
Appearance (shape, color): The silicone molds shape can be round, square or creative shape by developing the new tooling. The color can be white, blue, black or use the pantone book number to customized. You also can get mixed color, marble color or double colored, multi-colored appearance.
Material properties: You can customization the material with HTV material or LSR material. The hardness you can choice from 5-80 shore A, Translucent to highly transparent, Safety level from Food Grade to Medical grade, tensile properties from ordinary to high level)
Mold type: Steel, Copper or Al
Molding method：LSR Injection molding, HTV compression molding, dripping molding
Labeling: Logo on the tooling and get the logo products. We also can Screen Printing，Laser Engraving，Heat Transfer Printing your logo on the silicone molds already.
Packaging：zip bag, back card PET box, color box
Shipping method: DHL, FedEx, Air shipping or Sea shipping.
How to create your silicone molds brand or start your silicone molds business?
1. Choose the design and style of the silicone molded products that you want to customize from Z.S.R’s existing designs. Or Starting with your new product idea to create your molded products, our engineers can proceed with the CAD/Stp/Step/X-T drawings just based on your sketches.
Our design and manufacturing engineers will work with your team to ensure designs meet processing requirements and can be produced consistently and cost-effectively. For your ODM or OBM project, we can sign an NDA non-disclosure agreement with you. It wards off any copycats that plagiarize your designs.
Design 3D structure of the silicone mold according to your idea.
2. Z.S.R will make the prototype tooling to get the prototype to let you confirm. If all go through, we will make the mass production tooling for you and remake the samples for get your approved confirmation samples.Make the silicone mold tooling according to the silicone mold design requirements (Signal color or multi color) use the different metal, such as steel, copper or AL to ensure the accuracy and durability of the tooling.
3. Prepare the silicone mold raw material: Raw silicone material are the key to silicone mold’s products. Usually, silicone molds meet certain environmental protection standards, so silicone mold material are no exception. Normally, environmentally friendly Fumed silicone rubber is selected for customized processing, while many manufacturers use Precipitated silicone rubber for processing. Although the product is not greatly affected, it is still different Fumed silicone rubber from in quality after a long time. Mix the silicone color according to your silicone mold needed. Cutting the silicone mold material in the correct weight. The color matching principle of the silicone raw materials used in silicone molds is basically the same as the color matching principle in art painting. The white translucent silicone raw materials are combined with the addition of vulcanizers by adding color pastes of corresponding color proportions into them to mix and knead to obtain the corresponding required color. The color matching color is generally based on the international Pantone color card, namely PANTONE color or actual color samples.
4. Feeding the prepared silicone molds mixed material on-Feeding the silicone mold material no matter the Liquid silicone rubber or solid silicone rubber in to the tooling.
5. Curing the silicone mold: The silicone molds material is feeding into the mold after mixing, and the silicone molds material is filled into the entire space of the mold through heating and pressure. The temperature, pressure and time control of the molding process directly affect the size, shape and quality of the silicone molds.
No matter the silicone mold was made by: Compression molding or Silicone dripping molding or LSR molding.
6. Demolding: After the curing is completed, take the silicone mold product out of the mold.
7. QC the silicone mold: Quality inspection: Visually inspect the molded silicone mold to see if there is lack of silicone mold material, uncooked Ness, or impurities.
8. Post-processing: Carry out the silicone mold and then do the post processing and treatment, such as trimming, grinding, polishing, spraying, inspection, etc.
9. Secondary vulcanization: Secondary vulcanization is a process that must be handled for any product that has passed the inspection. The main reason why silicone molds have a certain smell is that they have not been subjected to Secondary vulcanization baking, and the catalyst of the raw silicone molds material of the products has not been emitted. At present, many silicone product manufacturers basically handle it, but the time and temperature of the Secondary vulcanization treatment are different. Bake in oven 2-4 hours to meet FDA or LFGB Standard. LSR silicone mold may do not need this process.
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10. LOGO or Pattern printing on the silicone molds if needed: screen printing or laser engraving. Most of time, we put the silicone mold logo on the silicone tooling directly. Check the products branding service to know more.
11. Final Quality control and testing: After all the silicone mold making process finished, we will arrange the final QC for the silicone mold before the delivery.
12. Package and Warehouse: Z. S. R offer custom packaging solutions you need for all your silicone mold packaging. Our custom packaging includes paper boxes, PE/PVC boxes, printed labels, hangtags, barcode stickers, etc to protect the safety of the silicone mold during transportation and storage, while ensuring the safety and aesthetics of the silicone mold.
In Z.S.R, we manufacture the silicone mold according to the client’s design and idea. We try our best to deliver the quality silicone mold to our customer.
Notice
When you buy the silicone mold, should pay attention to:
- Material and Certification: The silicone mold should meet your needs and is non-toxic and environmentally friendly to ensure safe use. lead, PVC-, and phthalates-free. Check whether the silicone mold product has a safety test certificate to ensure that it meets the relevant food safety standards. In China, silicone mold products can be checked for compliance with the limit requirements of GB 4806.11-2016 “National Food Safety Standard Food Contact material and Products”, while foreign products should be checked for US FDA certification, CPSIA certification or EU LFGB certification, etc. Food-grade silicone is preferred, IN USA -FDA Approved -silicone mold. The silicone mold should be 100% food-grade silicone raw silicone material to ensure safety. Ensuring that it complies with FDA and LFGB standards. Avoid choosing silicone mold made of ordinary plastics because they may release harmful substances. Real liquid silicone is almost odorless. If there is a pungent smell, it may not be real liquid silicone
- Choose a reliable brand: Buy a well-known, reputable brand quality-assured products to avoid safety hazards during use. Avoid buying inferior products and ensure safe use
- Size and precision: The size of the silicone mold should meet the use requirements and can be customized according to actual needs. The mold has high precision requirements to ensure the precision and quality of the product
- Hardness: The hardness of the silicone mold has an important impact on the service life and quality. Too low hardness will cause the mold to deform, and too high hardness will cause the mold to be fragile. Therefore, you should pay attention to the hardness of the silicone mold when purchasing it
- Detail processing: The details of the mold determine the quality of the product, including the texture, edges, angles, etc. of the mold. Pay attention to the details of the mold when purchasing to ensure the quality of the product
- Durability and easy cleaning: Silicone molds need to withstand regular use and cleaning, so they have high strength requirements and can be used multiple times. In addition, durability and easy cleaning are also factors that need to be considered when purchasing
- Scope of application and use environment: The scope of application and use environment of silicone molds will also affect their selection. Choose a mold that meets actual needs to ensure that it can work properly in a specific environment
When you would like to buy the silicone mold, you should comprehensively consider factors such as material, safety, brand, Function, and size to ensure to fit your needs.
Conclusion
No matter you would like to create the silicone mold with your logo or design for sales, promotional or events. Our high-quality customize silicone molds are perfect for branding, souvenir, corporate gifts.
Z.S.R. customized branded silicone mold with added your logo, design pattern, text may be your good choices.
In Z.S.R, all the steps from raw silicone molds material selection to molding, curing, and quality control, each step plays a vital role in creating your silicone mold that meet safety standards and perform well in their intended applications.
Contact Z.S.R to brand your own silicone mold by contract manufacturing.
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About Author: Z.S.R International Group
Z.S.R International Group(Hong Kong) co., Limited, is a one-stop supplier for molded silicone products and silicone products molding solution provider in the consumer products field. We offer OEM services from silicone product design to Silicone products contract manufacturing. We have the capability for custom silicone tooling, LSR(Liquid silicone Rubber) molded silicone products, solid silicone molded products, molded silicone multi-colored products. We also can custom molded silicone, custom molded LSR, custom molded dripping injection dispensing(co-injection) silicone multi-colored products.
