Are you following best practices to guarantee that your mold release agents provide your molds with as many releases as possible with every application?

Silicone, non-silicone, sacrificial, semi-permanent and other specifically formulated aerosol mold releases help your production process. Whether that's increasing your productivity, ensuring consistently manufactured parts, or reducing scrap waste—correct application and use of a sprayable mold release agent is critical in boosting your bottom line.

Here are some tips and techniques that can help you make sure that you're getting the most out of your mold release sprays—ensuring you tackle any production challenges and reduce scrap in your process.

Tips & Techniques

General Best Practices

Before we get into the nitty-gritty of mold release solution tips for specific industries, let's look at some universal best practices it pays to observe:

• Thoroughly Clean Your Molds. Clean each mold thoroughly to remove any traces of mold release or other debris. Cleaning improves the performance of both the mold release agent and the mold.
• Test Your Molds for Release Usage. It's essential to determine how much mold release you should apply to your molds, as discussed in our previous post about spray techniques. It is critical to evaluate the number of parts released against the amount of release applied, whether that’s with each molding cycle or when expecting to gain multiple parts with each application.

Now, let's look at some best practices for a handful of specific mold release tips and techniques to ensure optimal performance within your unique industry.

Plastics Mold Release Agents

There are both silicone and paintable formulations and options like water-based or semi-permanent characteristics to consider when it comes to release agents made for thermoplastics. Different plastic molding processes and polymers will dictate your choice of the optimum release agent. However, there are a handful of standard rules to remember to get the best results from your molds.

• Use the correct release agent for the plastic molding process.
• Make sure you're correctly applying the release agent.

Staying in the know about which release agents work best with your type of plastic molding is the best way to make sure your molds provide you with first-rate releases. Unsure about what you need? Our Stoner Molding experts are always ready to advise. Just give us a call!

Rubber Mold Release Agents

Rubber is a versatile material used in many applications. But the flexibility of rubber is a double-edged sword, as it presents many challenges to the molding process. There are a few issues that can arise with the misuse of release agents, so please keep the following in mind:

• Be sure you're using the right release agent for the job.
• Make sure you're correctly applying the release agent.
• Determine if you're using too much release agent.

If you're unsure about which type of release agent you should be using, how best to apply it, or if you're using too much—reach out to Stoner Molding for expert answers to your questions.

Polyurethane Mold Release Agents

Polyurethane is used in many commercial and industrial manufacturing applications. And while the products differ, the goal remains the same. Manufacturers want release agents that help to produce consistent surface finishes. Polyurethane production presents some unique challenges, chief among them is the buildup on the mold surface, which can cause:

• An increase in scrap.
• Defects in molded parts.
• Difficulty de-molding parts.

Staying on top of your mold buildup is the preventive maintenance required to ensure your molds provide you with perfect releases for as long of a production cycle as possible. Operators tend to take a “more is better” approach.  However, multiple light coats of release spray actually reduces buildup more effectively than a single heavy coat.

Composite Mold Release Agents

Tools made from steel, aluminum, polyester, vinyl ester, and even carbon fiber can benefit from the mold release agents made by Stoner Molding Solutions. And we make them for every type of composite molding process, including both water and solvent-based semi-permanent and sacrificial release systems. Here are a few issues that can arise when you use the wrong release agent for a certain molding task:

• Uneven application and curing in hard-to-reach areas can result in pre-release.
• Applying a water-based release to a tool that’s not heated will often cause the release to flow off and become ineffective.
• Applying a solvent semi-permanent over a paste wax release will dissolve the wax.

Have more questions about composite mold release agents? Contact Stoner Molding for the right answers to all of your molding quandaries.

Not Sure What Molding Agent Is Best for Your Job? We Can Help!

At Stoner Molding Solutions, our team of chemists, engineers, and industry-leading experts are here to help you find the process solutions to meet your needs. We strive to provide real value—we'll even create custom formulations designed for your specific production requirements.

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