Environmental Technology Mold Builder Liquid Latex Rubber, Off White,16 oz / 473 ml

This is my latex of choice for stop-motion puppet fabrication, and soft-mold making. That's the selling point right there, because it's versatile enough to be used in multiple ways. That means I can buy one product to do the job of several, saving me a lot of money.1. In it's unaltered state, it works great for making soft-molds to cast non-porous hard objects, like plaster or resin. Just remember to create a mother-mold over it out of a more dense material like plaster, resin, or fiberglass. Although, this latex rubber is very thick, and with several coats ( around 10 or so) you can easily get by using just the latex.2. Thinned, pigmented, and applied directly over an armature in layers, this latex is absolutely great for "build-up" sculpting. The consistency can easily be altered, It dries very smooth, layers bond very well as long as they are applied within 24 hours, and a thicker batch can be applied with a brush to paint on detailed protrusions (like knuckles, veins, muscles, eyelids, lips, etc...) A single coat (or detail) takes up to 1hr 30min to dry enough to add another coat or to handle it without disturbing the shape. I found that after 4 hours I can handle most pieces without any worry about messing up my work. To make the latex less tacky/sticky and to dull the shiny rubber look, just brush on some talc or baby powder after the latex has dried. I've read to do this *before* the latex is completely dry, but I've found that as long as the talc is applied within the first 24 hours it will adhere to the surface just fine. This will dull the color only very slightly, and it will not make your figure look "dusty" or "chalky", just keep brushing until the excess powder is gone.3. You can also colorize latex very easily using just about anything: pigment powder, acrylic or gouache paint, latex paint, ink, gel food coloring, among others. *DO NOT USE OIL-BASED ANYTHING ON LATEX* Oil corrodes latex, and it will ruin your mold or cast whether the latex has dried or not. The latex itself is mostly translucent when it has dried. It has a slight yellowish hue to it though, which you'll want to take into consideration when mixing colors. I found that very small amount (like a drop or two) of blue, red, and white (paint or pigment) will give you a very neutral base to begin with when mixing color, and still preserve the translucency of the latex. Mix up a small batch, spread a bit out on a non-porous surface, and let it sit for about an hour to see what it will look like when it dries. Typically whatever color you mix will become a couple shades darker when it dries. In this case, the latex would become slightly opaque, and the yellowish hue would be desaturated to white.A NOTE ABOUT ADDING COLOR: When mixing paint to add to the latex, it's best to thin it out before hand. You can do this with water, ammonia, or ProzAid. I like to keep a pre-mixed bottle of 50/50 Ammonia/Water on hand (it's not as toxic as pure ammonia, and creates fewer bubbles than pure water). Just add enough ammonia/water to the paint to make it easy to pour. Since your latex is translucent and relatively void of color, whatever color paint is added to the latex will be the color you get when the latex dries. In other words, you don't really need to compensate much for the white of the latex. Just gradually add your paint mix into a batch of latex little by little, and stir it up really well. When the color of the latex looks close to the color of the paint mix, you're good to go. It doesn't take a lot of paint/dye to color the latex either.4. While it's not ideal for casting, it can be done. **Read my method for a successful latex cast at the end of the review.**Well, there's my review, and some helpful hints to get you started using it right away. I really can't find anything to complain about with this latex. The only thing I could harp on is that it's got that yellowish hue to it when it dries, but my little method for neutralizing that works fine, and it's a really simple process. I just do that to each new batch I get, and forget about it.This is a great introductory latex, too. It's inexpensive, you get a good amount (which can also be stretched by thinning it out with ammonia/water), and it's very easy to learn to use. A dixie cup full of latex is all you need to play around and experiment with. After that, you'll have mastered the material and you can come up with all kinds of creative ways to use it.Now, as promised, here's a method I use to make latex casts out of a plaster mold that don't take days and days to fully cure.** While this sort of latex is not ideal for casting, it can be done. You just make your hard mold as usual, set your armature, then (instead of just filling the mold with latex) paint a thin layer into each side of the mold, and dip or paint the armature as well, try to keep turning the molds for the first 5-10 minutes so the latex spreads evenly and doesn't all settle into the deepest crevices, keep everything separate for now so there's good airflow and the ammonia in the latex can evaporate, wait about a quarter of the drying time (15-25 min), then add another coat, and another, and another, etc... Slowly building it up until the armature and the two halves can touch (just remember to keep turning the molds so you get even layers).If all goes well the two halves and the armature should fit together pretty closely. Then you can pull out the latex pieces and paste them together onto the armature with a thin layer of latex. Allow the latex to dry on both halves and the armature for about 5-10 minutes before pressing them all together. I usually touch them together and pull them apart continuously until I start to feel the latex getting tacky enough to hold on it's own, then I use a few loose rubber-bands to hold the pieces together, and put a fan on the piece to help it dry faster.Last, I'll smooth out the seams by painting thin layers of latex around them and blending into the two halves. For a final touch, you can use an ultra thinned out batch of latex (50/50 latex/ammonia) to dip the object into (or pour over it) for a nice seal and a smooth finish. (most details *even small ones* will still remain in tact with this mixture*)Good Luck, Have Fun!

I used this to repair the backs of 3 bath rugs that were starting to crumble. After Googling how to repair rather than throw away a bath rug I found several posts that said to use this or a similar product. So easy and quick to use. Just use a small paint brush to apply to the back of the rug. Best to use a face mask. But doesn't take long to apply. I let it dry for a couple of days before placing back in the bathrooms. Works perfectly. I bought and applied this in Dec 2015, sorry it took so long to write a review. But happy to say all 3 rugs are doing great, once applied it stays on as a strong rubber backing.

I make small figurines in the 2-5 inch size I like the small amount as i can make 3-6 molds out of one jar and i don't have to worry about it going bad before I get them done. I would have gave it a 5 but some times it will soak up some of the color from the original but that is ok as the master I don't always keep anyway, but makes it hard to tell if you missed a spot so i go feel on if i have enough layers. I hang them in a cup or jar to pour my plaster but if you make a larger mold 8-12 inch size you will be happier if you make a mother mold for it. I am on my 5th jar so far the only problem is i am having so much fun making molds i don't have a lot of time to pour plaster lol

Awesome

i ordered this at the end of december because i keep some around for when i need it. i needed it 5 weeks later (a week after the return date closed). when i opened it, i found that it had shipped with the seal already open and broken so a good part of it was all dried out. not what i needed;

YES! Love this stuff. It picks up the tiniest detail and is super flexible so you can pull it right off even with serious undercuts. I just add a layer of thin fabric to the last two layers to make it more sturdy and stick it in a bowl of uncooked rice so it keeps it's shape when you pour the casting material. It may take longer to make, but it is seriously worth it. I don't recommend buying the big container though, mine dried out before I got to use all of it...it lasts forever!

I make my own boxes for soap molds. They're not exactly the same size as the ones you can buy oh, so the liners don't fit. This is a wonderful product. It allows me to make my own custom liners for my own custom molds. I love it

I used this rubber to make a soap mold liner as I've seen done on YouTube. The jar that I received had a chip out of the side of the lid, but it appeared to be tight so I didn't return it. The chip wasn't in the box, so I believe it may have been returned and re-sold that way. Upon applying the rubber it seemed too thick, but then I never used it before so I didn't know exactly what to expect. So, I proceeded to make the liner. While working I kept getting more and more bits of semi-dry bits of the rubber that would get stuck into my liner. I decided to just keep going and see if it turned out okay since I really didn't need the outside to be smooth, just the inside. Overall the liner turned out okay and it did work for the soap. If you are going to use this and it starts doing this same thing, I would suggest you return it and get a new jar. I think the one that I received had dried out some and that's why it seemed to be too thick and why I got the dry bits in the painted on parts. It could be just my experience with the stuff, so I'd give it a go, but keep in mind this stuff isn't cheap so you're taking a risk.