Well aren't I just the silliest of sillies.  Dory left me a lovely comment following my last blog and I thought I was responding to Dory but it turned out I was actually deleting my blog piece.  Not to worry, it wasn't exactly a literary masterpiece.
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Anyway!  Today I wanted to start talking about silicone softness.

There are two types of silicone used to make dolls, platinum silicone and tin silicone.  Tin silicone generally comes as a pourable silicone and a liquid catalyst which is mixed with the silicone.  The catalyst makes the silicone cure, generally tin silicone is poorer quality, doesnt come in the lovely super soft softnesses, and it breaks down much quicker than platinum silicone and being harder it tears easily.  So we are not going to talk about tin silicone.

So platinum silicone is the stuff they make medical prosthetics from, it is super soft, very stable and lasts a lifetime.

Platinum silicone we use for making silicone babies is so soft it comes with its own scale of softness, the 00 scale.

Okay so I might have just made that up - the bit about platinum  having its own scale of hardness.  But it is super super soft and wonderful quality.

So there are three hardness scales when it comes to measuring any rubber (silicone rubber IS classed as a rubber, similar to latex rubber, it is referred to as silicone rubber).  The A scale is the general scale for measuring rubber softness. 

As you can see from the scale, a pencil eraser is a Shore Hardness of A40.  If you look up at the top '00' scale, you can see that a Shore Hardness of A40 is approximately the same as a Shore Hardness of 00-78.  That is quite hard.

The silicones we use for making and painting our babies are on the 00 scale.  However, some of the mould making silicones are harder and are measured on the A scale.  Therefore you have to be careful to check when choosing silicone, how hard the silicone is.

Ecoflex 20 is measured on the soft 00 scale, and is 00-20.  Ecoflex 30 is 00-30.  Ecoflex 10 is 00-10.  You get the idea.  Ecoflex is a soft platinum silicone.   

Now ... Platsil Gel 00 is measured on the softer 00 scale (the name is a giveaway) so when I talk about using Platsil for fixing and painting babies, I am talking about Platsil Gel 00.  This has a softness of 00-30 and can be used for pouring babies, it is excellent quality just like Ecoflex.

However ... Platsil Gel 10 many would assume has a softness of 00-10 but it does NOT.  Platsil 10 is measured on the A hardness scale, and has a hardness of A10 (around 00-55).  You really don't want to pour a baby with a Shore Hardness of A10.   

So the difference between Platsil Gel 00 and Platsil Gel 10 is IMMENSE.  

I will talk again about silicone softnesses and properties, the viscosity, cure time etc, but a little at a time, the thing is to ALWAYS read the technical data sheet when using a new product.  Don't even buy it until you have studied the technical data sheet, study it and understand it. 

This is a section from a technical data sheet for platsil.  You can download the technical data sheets off the suppliers websites.  They are fascinating, and they tell you everything you will ever want to know about how the product you are buying will handle, how thick it is for pouring, how much time you have before it starts to 'gel', and how soft the silicone will be when it's cured.

Another time I will talk about various other things to do with silicones but for now remember the Shore Hardness Scale.  So many times people ask me "is Dragonskin 10 the same softness as Ecoflex 10?"  The answer of course is NO.  But everybody can find out that for themselves by simply checking the Short Hardness of the silicone.

Hi Dory!  Thank you so much for leaving your comment - and for your decorator's tips!! thank you for the lovely feedback, it is very much appreciated xx

Well hello there, I hadn't realised anybody was reading the blog but seeing the comments there are a few.  It feels a bit like writing a diary, you assume nobody is going to read it.  Have to remember not to write anything too embarrassing.
But hey, when has that ever stopped me.

First of all, there has been a message from Lynne:  Hi Carolyn, lovely that you have this blog, although up until now, I didn’t really understand what a blog was lol!
I must say first, that you have always been very kind,helpful and patient with me right from the beginning when I started to take an interest in silicone babies and I will always be grateful to you for that.
What I wanted to ask following what you answered to Kimberly, is the rosy flesh pigment from Bentleys that you mentioned, would it be ok to use this pigment with my platsil silicone please as it looks a good colour for the repairs and I struggle to get a good colour for this?

Thank you so much Lynne for commenting, and for your lovely feedback.  Oooh and to say I'll be working on the flange for your head in the next few days (that must sound so weird).

So, yes - on the whole I've found that the pigments designed for silicone do state they are suitable for both platinum and tin silicone.  I have used many different brands of pigments and have found that although the more professional pigments like SAM and Enfis do a fabulous range of the colours, I have also bought the cheaper brands for pigmenting the pours because I use such a lot.  When I started out I used the cheap ones you can get off Amazon, made by Polycraft I believe.  If you read the blurb they are suitable for platinum and tin silicones, and I can confirm they are absolutely fine.  So for flesh tone I used to use 1/3 Flesh and 2/3 White in the mix.  And this made a really ok pale flesh colour.

So to answer your question Lynne, the Rosey Flesh is perfect for using with Platsil too, I use it to do my fixes as it matches perfectly your pour colour.  But for the fixes, always under-pigment the silicone so it is more transparent than the base colour - it blends in so much better that way.

Then a couple of years ago I found the Rosey Flesh from Bentleys (for any overseas peeps, Bentleys are our main smooth-on supplier in the UK).  These pigments are not made by Smooth-On.  And I really like the colour without any mixing.  So I use that now, it saves on time mixing white with the standard flesh.  

I also like to use the cheaper pigments for colouring my mould silicone, generally I use any of the colours that I probably wouldn't use for painting.  

So, short and sweet for now, as I've got a lot to do today - mould making.  I'm working on four moulds at the moment: 

1. the re-sculpt of my Mae sculpt.  I sculpted her last year and made a mould but almost as soon as I started pouring her I realised that the mould was not going to hold for many moulds and quite a few enquiries and some firm orders came in - so I went back to the original (now broken) sculpt and started to resculpt it again, using the original head and torso but re-sculpting the hands and feet.  So she is now being moulded again, fingers crossed I've made a better job of this one.
2. my amazing mermaid sculpted by Teresa Russon (Bierton).  I'll be talking more about this one so bear with.
3. my new preemie baby who I'm really excited about, she is called Melody and I am so excited about seeing her in silicone and painting her.  She will be available as a boy as well.  So watch this space.  I am hoping to have her prototype ready for the June (July) show in Peterborough.
4. A new little cheeky chi elf called Merlin.

But for now I need to go walk the dogs before they explode from excitement, and then get back to my moulding.
Bye for now,
​Carolyn xxx

A question I am asked a LOT is "why is my silicone paint not curing on my doll?"
Ok so there are a number of possible reasons, and you can try and work out the reason by doing a few things.
For the benefit of this I am assuming you are using quality platinum silicone such as psycho paint, and a pigment that is intended for silicone.
First of all - is the silicone curing ok in the pot.  In other words, you have mixed the paint in the pot and used it to paint the baby.  The paint on the baby had not cured ... but go back to the pot and take a look, is it cured or is it still runny/sticky?

• if the paint is still runny, then something went wrong with your mix, you could consider each of these possibilities:
  • Instead of adding A and B to your pot and mix, you added either A and A, or B and B in error.  Easily done.  
  • Is your silicone paint fresh?  It has a limited shelf life - check the date on the batch, if it is quite old then that could be a possibility.
  • There could be a contaminant in your mixing process.  Platinum silicone is very sensitive and if you used latex gloves or something that might have contaminated the silicone in either the pot or your mixing stick, then that might be the problem.
  • What solvent are you using to dilute your paint?  Check it is compatible with silicone, for example SAM odorless silicone solvent, Novocs, Mona Lisa, Bob Ross odorless thinner, or naptha (lighter fluid).  You may have picked up the wrong bottle - if you accidentally used alcohol or acetone, water, or something that looks like thinner but is not, it will have an adverse effect on your silicone.
• If the paint in the pot has cured perfectly, then the problem is not with your silicone or mixing, but with either your painting equipment or doll
  • ​check that any cleaning products used on the doll have been removed completely, and any spirit like alcohol or thinners, have completely flashed off before painting.
    
  • check that your gloves are free of contaminants, and that your gloves do not contain latex or other product that might inhibit the cure.  If in any doubt do a test on the gloves, mix some A and B silicone neat in a pot, paint onto the gloves and allow to cure (or fast-cure in a cool oven).  If the paint cures ok then those gloves are ok to use.
  • If you are using a sponge to apply your paint, do a test on the sponge to make sure it is compatible with platinum silicone.  As above, mix some A and B (with thinners as if you were painting) and paint a generous amount on the painting end of the sponge.  Allow to cure naturally or fast cure in a cool oven.  If the paint on the sponge remains tacky and 'oozy' then do not use those sponges again. Even when sponges are marked 'latex free' I have found that many do have an issue with silicone so when you find sponges that are ok, stick to that brand.
  • The problem could be with the silicone that the doll is made of.  Think back to when you bought it, did you buy it from a reputable artist, and was it a normal price you would expect to pay for a silicone doll - or did it seem like a really good bargain.  Because if it was one of the cheap illegal copies that are being sold on ebay and the internet, it could be that it is not made out of platinum silicone, but of a cheaper tin silicone.  If it was a genuine artist-made platinum silicone doll you will be given the name of the sculptor and the pourer, and you will know what silicone it is poured in.  If the seller did not provide you with this information then it could be a fake.  They may even tell you it is poured in ecoflex but it may not be - these people are not known for their honesty and integrity!  So if you suspect that the doll may have been too good to be true, it may be that it is not a genuine platinum silicone doll and be poured in tin silicone in which case you will never get normal silicone paint to cure on the surface of the doll - if it does cure it will peel straight off again.

So - you have worked out what is causing the problem, but you have a sticky doll to deal with.  You can GENTLY remove this sticky layer of silicone using solvent/thinner (whichever solvent you use for diluting your paint will be fine).  If you have already done some work on the doll, be careful not to lift any underlying paint layers.
I hope this is helpful. 
​xxx

​Happy Easter everybody!
You might wonder what I am doing on Easter Sunday, sitting at my computer writing my blog.  I don’t have an answer for that except that I clearly lead a very sad life lol.
Anyway this week I wanted to answer a lovely lady called Kimberley, who took the time to read my blog and comment on it, her comment was:
“Looking forward to this blog! If possible can you blood about the layers of paint and how u mix this to get the perfect shades you use. I watched all of your videos but sometimes get lost in how much product you use and colors . Especially lips as I love the Lip color of your babies!!”
First of all I presume you mean can I blog, not can I blood – it looks like a typo but a very weird typo when you read my answer …
So I’ll start at the end and say that the lip colour I use the most of is the SilcPig (Smooth on) colour called Blood (isn’t that weird considering the typo above – oooooooo ).  I really love this colour and although I generally use SAM colours and more recently the Enfis colours also, I have never found a colour to match Blood for being useful for blushing and general colours.  So the lips I will swipe with other colours as I go along but I do find that Blood is a really lovely colour for the lips.
So layers of paint, it varies from baby to baby.  I usually try and do a blue undertones, very faint colour.  Blue veins, again very faint.  Then a kind of purple undertones and shadows.  All these layers very faint.  I have recently been using Enfis colours and hope to be stocking them in my online shop soon, and when I do I’ll be demonstrating some of the colours in that range.
After the undertones, I use blood as a basic mottling layer.  I will use another one or two colours for the mottling – one slightly more purple and one more salmon.  All very faint. 
Then I might go back over the veins and some blushing.  Again I really love the Blood colour I probably use it too much but I find it is neither too pink (that horrible moment the next day when you see your baby in a different light and realise your baby is too pink or too red!!!
Two colours I love to use towards the end – magenta – this is a SAM colour and the pigment is very strong so be careful.  So generally it’s a wash over the whole baby checking the colour as I go, and dab off again.  I’ll go over sponges another time because you have to be careful with sponges.
The other colour is a yellow, sometimes depending on what colour is needed, I will use a faint wash of yellow ochre – but only over the more fleshy areas, the thighs, the tummy.  It really makes the skin colour ‘pop’.  Sometimes though, on a younger baby where you maybe want more colour, I will use a yellowey lime-green, really bright, and again this on the fleshy areas, it tones down the reds and gives a feeling of more fleshy depth.
There is no right or wrong way or colours to use and I’ll be talking again in snatches about colours.  I have come across some really great new colours in the Enfis range, but the SAM colours are so useful too.
I hope this has answered your question Kimberley, please do comment and let me know.
Anybody else who has questions please do feel free to comment on my blog asking questions and I will address them as and when I can. I would like this to be a conversation with several strands rather than me just sitting here talking to myself.  Which I do quite well as you may have gathered from my videos.
Anyway enjoy the rest of your Easter weekend, be safe, be happy, and always enjoy whatever it is you choose to do.
Love and hugs, Carolyn x

Ok so there are a lot of different types of silicone.  There is tin silicone and there is platinum silicone.

Platinum silicone is the super soft high grade silicone that we use for making our silicone babies, it comes in two parts - part A and part B. 
Platinum silicone is very sensitive to certain products and if it comes into contact with these products it will inhibit the cure.  The major products to avoid are - Sulphur (sulfur), Latex, and Tin silicone.  There are other things that it will sometimes react to unexpectedly.  So we need to be very careful we do NOT allow our uncured platinum silicone to come into contact with any of these items.  

So as a rule of thumb...
- make sure the clay you are using does not contain sulphur.
- make sure the gloves you use do not contain latex.
- if you use sponges to paint with, make sure they do not contain latex.
- make sure the silicone you use to make your mould is also platinum silicone and NOT tin silicone.

If you are in any doubt as to whether a product can be used (eg some of the wedge sponges are labelled as latex-free but still contain something that inhibits the cure, and some nitrile gloves contain something that is problematic) so if it is the first time you have used a product, better to do a quick test.  To do a test, paint some platinum silicone onto the product (eg a sponge or a glove) and leave to cure.  If it cures ok, then go ahead and use the product.  If it remains tacky or sticky, then don't use it.  Simple as that.  

Hi there.  I'm going to be posting fairly regularly (I hope) basically anything related to making silicone babies - sculpting, moulding, pouring, pulling, painting, rooting.  
So if you would like information on a specific subject, please do let me know and I'll try and cover it best I can.
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