DIY silicone from Gelatin and Glycerin
Somewhere a couple of months ago, I came across this video on YouTube, where a man made a mold from gelatin and glycerin.
I really liked the video, especially because all the components of this recipe are easily accessible and not very expensive, at least for small volumes of forms. The video itself, although in bourgeois language, is nothing special to delve into; it was enough to hear fifty-fifty, after which it became clear how much glycerin and gelatin should be mixed. Therefore, I decided to try to repeat this recipe for homemade silicone or rubber, whichever is closer. At the nearest pharmacy and grocery store, several vials of glycerin and the same number of packets of gelatin were purchased. Here everything will depend on the size of the mold; if you want to make a mold for something large, then accordingly you will have to purchase a little more of all these components.
Mix everything approximately 50/50, that is, by eye. Experimentally, I found out that if you pour more glycerin, the mixture turns out to be more liquid and fluid. But if there is not enough glycerin, then this gelatin paste will stretch like drying Moment glue and at the same time it is difficult to stir even in a water bath, let alone pour it into a mold with a part that has complex detailing. In general, 50/50 seems to be the best option. I have not tried adding glycerin more than twice (to find out the limit at which the mixture would remain strong and not sticky after hardening).
It’s ideal to heat the whole thing in a water bath, because you don’t have to control the temperature, but you don’t always have access to a gas stove, so for now I made do with an ordinary candle. The main thing is not to let the gelatin boil, otherwise it will start to burn and smell terrible, as if you were frying some kind of animal carcass
