Prototype 3: The World’s First Modular Silicone Soap Mold!

After over a month full of prototyping, testing, and revisions, we were finally ready to try another attempt at a fully-functioning MightyMold. We learned a lot from our previous attempt, which allowed us to fine tune our processes and solve some problems that had been plaguing the design.

Our last attempt saw the use of a cardboard mold box, which most certainly did not happen again. Opting for a smaller gauge plastic, we were able to quickly fashion a workable box for this prototype. The thinner plastic was definitely easier to work with, but it also didn’t hold up to the silicone quite as well. It did serve its purpose however. After the box was assembled, we poured a clay bed down so that we could create the external connectors.

This attempt also featured the introduction of connector templates, a departure from our previous process, which was basically just free handing them. Creating these templates proved to be a bit of a challenge, but they were absolutely imperative to creating uniform, consistent connectors across multiple layers of silicone. Unfortunately we hadn’t fully learned our lesson with the cardboard, and used that as the first template medium. Removing it was not a clean process. We fashioned pour spouts from clay, and used some existing bars of soap that we had made for the casting subjects.

For the second layer template we used leftover plastic material from the box construction, and that worked much better. Not only did it hold the soap and the connectors in place more firmly, it also released from the silicone easily and cleanly.

Once the second template was removed, we poured the last layer of silicone, and hoped for the best. Our last attempt hadn’t gone smoothly, so we were hoping that this go around would prove more successful.

When it came time to remove the mold from the box, we were thankful that we switched back to plastic. Without cardboard peeling off and mucking everything up, the whole process went a lot  smoother. The mold was removed and separated, and the casting subjects were extracted. We were left with a pretty beautiful mold.

Everything seemed to fall into place with this mold. Both of the caps came out well, and multiplier was far better than our previous attempt. We increased the thickness, and it paid off with a sturdy, complete interior multiplier that does exactly what it should do. We couldn’t be happier with this result, and hope everything shares our excitement with the progress we’ve made thus far. Please be sure to like and share the page, and keep checking in often because our next post will be our first video update, where we will actually test this latest prototype by pouring four bars of soap!