Separating medium

[Kacey]

Does anyone NOT use separating medium before pouring acrylic? If you don't, what do you do instead?

 

[RetainerDesigner]

I have heard of people soaking the casts in water instead of separator, pretty much salt and peppering acrylic on a wet model. Im too scared to try it

 

[Kacey]

thanks! I had run out of separator and tried liquid soap and then olive oil. Limited success. My separator arrived today and I'm VERY glad to see it! I wonder what it's made out of.

 

[AJEL]

When I started I packed some vulcanize cases with tinfoil. buffalo still sells tinfoil you kind of burnish it on the model, we used a nylon on a pencil eraser. It will look like a mirror model take all the time you want to, the tinfoil side will be smooth as glass. Most separators today are Alginate / agar Polysaccharide based. The DVA works a little differently I think it has inorganic silicon based polymers (stabilized polysiloxanes.).
I used to like the NOBIL SHIELD, & Fricke Vita-Sep but right now I have been using the DVA, The nobilium & Fricke are great materials. I in my area try to order these products in summer they do not tollerate freezing.

 

[Kacey]

While I was researching what I could use in place of separator I saw that tinfoil was sometimes used, but I didn't get it. It's so thick. Burnishing it makes more sense. Thanks for letting me know about separators being alginate based. That's interesting.

 

[AJEL]

Order some tinfoil we are not talking about aluminnium foil you get at the grocery store, it's a little more like the stuff used by beauticians when striping hair.

 

[Kacey]

haha, oh, no wonder! I was picturing the kind from the grocery store. Ok, I'll try the correct kind. Thanks.