shantillescandlecreation Posted December 22, 2008 Share Posted December 22, 2008 Hello everyone. I've just been sitting in the shadows reading away, but I've come up with a question that hopfully someone can answer. My wife and I have purchaced about 15-18 molds now on ebay. We have gotten them from various people, but one thing is common with all the molds. While the mold itself is in good shape the outsides of the molds are caked, or plastered with wax build up. We havent had this with our molds. the stay fairly clean on the outside. We also wonder why people dont clean the molds up when they sell them or before shipping them. I'm attaching a pic of some molds we recently bought. notice the star molds especially. and the octogon mold has it all over the sides. Any info will be appriciatedthanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CareBear Posted December 22, 2008 Share Posted December 22, 2008 cause it's a pain to clean them I guess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flightoffancy Posted December 22, 2008 Share Posted December 22, 2008 My best guess is they don't clean them because of the fear of them rusting.Of course, they could have at least heated them up and let most of the wax melt off and then wiped them down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisR Posted December 22, 2008 Share Posted December 22, 2008 I'd say it's just laziness.......it doesn't take a lot of time to put them upside down in a warm oven to melt the wax off, then wipe them down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stella1952 Posted December 22, 2008 Share Posted December 22, 2008 Are these metal molds, plastic or latex/silicone? Metal molds are easy to maintain - put 'em in the oven and let the wax melt off, wipe clean and voila! Latex/silicon molds are a little dicier to keep clean, especially if they are detailed, and easy to damage. Plastic is more difficult than is metal but much easier than latex/silicone molds.Many busy candlemakers do not pay a lot of attention to the exterior of their molds because that isn't the part that needs maintenance the most. Since you obviously are buying these molds used at a discount, the sellers do not feel obligated to clean them. If you have a gripe about it, leave feedback on eBay. If you want the molds to be like new, buy new ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CareBear Posted December 22, 2008 Share Posted December 22, 2008 Since you obviously are buying these molds used at a discount, the sellers do not feel obligated to clean them. If you have a gripe about it, leave feedback on eBay. If you want the molds to be like new, buy new ones. Stella, I think I love you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shantillescandlecreation Posted December 22, 2008 Author Share Posted December 22, 2008 Are these metal molds, plastic or latex/silicone? Metal molds are easy to maintain - put 'em in the oven and let the wax melt off, wipe clean and voila! Latex/silicon molds are a little dicier to keep clean, especially if they are detailed, and easy to damage. Plastic is more difficult than is metal but much easier than latex/silicone molds.Many busy candlemakers do not pay a lot of attention to the exterior of their molds because that isn't the part that needs maintenance the most. Since you obviously are buying these molds used at a discount, the sellers do not feel obligated to clean them. If you have a gripe about it, leave feedback on eBay. If you want the molds to be like new, buy new ones. Stella, these are metal molds. I'm not griping, just wondering if this is caused by overflow, or if they might be using a cold water bath and there is wax in the water. Just a simple question from curiosity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stella1952 Posted December 23, 2008 Share Posted December 23, 2008 I don't use water baths, but I am soooo sloppy!!:embarasse Can't speak for anyone else, but I admit, when I am pouring, the last thing on my mind is some dripping and slopping on the outside of the mold. I'm just praying everything is working out on the INSIDE!! For folks who pour a LOTTA stuff, they don't take the time to be neat. Arguably, it may be more cost effective for a big operation to just use the heck outta the molds, sell 'em on eBay when they get trashed and buy more. Since metal IS so easy to clean, I don't know why folks don't keep their molds clean... It doesn't seem to harm aluminum, but the chrome/steel molds rust like crazy if wax is left on them. I clean those every time they are used. I'll put up with some drippies for a while, but every so often, I throw everything in the oven. I don't think bigtime operations mess around with all that...I guess when people are selling used stuff because they are going outta business or something, they just wanna move the stock and don't think about the appearance. I'm curious... is this how they were pictured in the auction? Again, if the molds arrived with a lotta buildup on them, and the photos didn't look like that, I sure would leave feedback for the seller. BUT this does turn out okay for you because you got discounted molds that do clean up easily! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shantillescandlecreation Posted December 23, 2008 Author Share Posted December 23, 2008 I'm curious... is this how they were pictured in the auction? Again, if the molds arrived with a lotta buildup on them, and the photos didn't look like that, I sure would leave feedback for the seller. BUT this does turn out okay for you because you got discounted molds that do clean up easily! Suprisingly, yes the pic that I Posted with this thread is the pic off of ebay, Yes the one they used to sell these molds. I clean the molds as soon as I get them. And I agree The molds pictured I picked up all of them for $30.00 including shiping. so far all the molds we've bought have been in really good shape, not dents, dings, or rust. I've attached pics of 2 ebay auctions that we bought. again these are the pics from the ebay ad. Thanks for the input Stellashane Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pam W Posted December 23, 2008 Share Posted December 23, 2008 I bought a big lot of molds once and they looked just like those - just sickening but since I got a good deal and the molds were in good shape, I couldn't complain about having to clean them....clean them up and start pouring !! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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