Oopsie. I broke my hearts.
February 8, 2010 1:42 PM Subscribe
I ruined a perfectly good silicone hearts mold by melting crayons for my daughter's Pre-K class. What can I do with it now?
I made Valentine's hearts out of scrap crayons and melted them in my silicone heart mold (24 hearts to one silicone sheet). I don't want to throw it away, but I certainly can't bake food in it now because the crayons stained it.
Does anyone have suggestions of what else I could melt in it? Besides soap and more crayons?
I made Valentine's hearts out of scrap crayons and melted them in my silicone heart mold (24 hearts to one silicone sheet). I don't want to throw it away, but I certainly can't bake food in it now because the crayons stained it.
Does anyone have suggestions of what else I could melt in it? Besides soap and more crayons?
Well, crayons are in general designed to be non-toxic (danger list), so maybe the real question is whether the color stain will not stay put, and make your food look funny. Why not give it a test run (ice cubes? white chocolate?) before you condemn your candy molds to the craft pile?
posted by aimedwander at 1:50 PM on February 8, 2010
posted by aimedwander at 1:50 PM on February 8, 2010
Yeah, isn't there any way you can safely dissolve the remaining wax? Or how about baking a batch of cupcakes that you will be prepared to throw out. Hopefully as you remove them from the mold, they'll "pull" the remaining wax/dye out with them.
posted by yawper at 1:54 PM on February 8, 2010
posted by yawper at 1:54 PM on February 8, 2010
Boil the mold in water.... if it won't fit in a pot, maybe put it in a large baking dish filled with water?
This is how I clean all my supplies from making candles... the wax will melt right into the water leaving the object *mostly* clean.... hot water from the tap/boiling water from the tea-kettle works well for getting the last bits clean.
posted by anthroprose at 2:13 PM on February 8, 2010
This is how I clean all my supplies from making candles... the wax will melt right into the water leaving the object *mostly* clean.... hot water from the tap/boiling water from the tea-kettle works well for getting the last bits clean.
posted by anthroprose at 2:13 PM on February 8, 2010
Silicone is generally pretty heat safe-- check the mould for specific details, but maybe you could either try boiling it in water or else baking it in the oven at 500 to see if you could remove the wax and color?
posted by beepbeepboopboop at 2:14 PM on February 8, 2010
posted by beepbeepboopboop at 2:14 PM on February 8, 2010
Why do you think it's ruined? Run it through your dishwasher and that'll take all the wax off.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 4:44 PM on February 8, 2010
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 4:44 PM on February 8, 2010
Silicone is generally pretty heat safe
That's for sure. I used to make molds out of silicone so that I could cast lead figures. They weren't harmed by me pouring melted metal into them.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 6:23 PM on February 8, 2010
That's for sure. I used to make molds out of silicone so that I could cast lead figures. They weren't harmed by me pouring melted metal into them.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 6:23 PM on February 8, 2010
Response by poster: I'm pretty sure it's ruined for food at least. I put it in a baking dish and poured boiling water over it and soaked it for 8 hours, put it through the dishwasher twice, and also let it soak in Dawn overnight. The wax never stuck to the mold.. it's the crayon colours that stained the mold in about 10 different spots. It's like the colour is a part of the mold now.. made it kind of pretty.
I don't mind using it for crafts.. I definitely won't throw it out. I'll use it til it falls apart.
posted by czechmate at 7:12 PM on February 8, 2010
I don't mind using it for crafts.. I definitely won't throw it out. I'll use it til it falls apart.
posted by czechmate at 7:12 PM on February 8, 2010
Couple o' thoughts:
1) What happens if you melt an edible wax, like beeswax into the molds? Does it pick up the color from the "stains"?
2) Dawn, as wonderful as it is at de-greasing, its just not a wax remover, period. Maybe try a q-tip with some isopropyl alcohol to dissolve and swab the remaining wax out of there? Usually, I'd use stronger stuff to get rid of wax -- naptha, xylene, MEK -- all of which do a number on waxes, but they also harm silicone, so I wouldn't use those.
posted by buzzv at 8:14 PM on February 8, 2010
1) What happens if you melt an edible wax, like beeswax into the molds? Does it pick up the color from the "stains"?
2) Dawn, as wonderful as it is at de-greasing, its just not a wax remover, period. Maybe try a q-tip with some isopropyl alcohol to dissolve and swab the remaining wax out of there? Usually, I'd use stronger stuff to get rid of wax -- naptha, xylene, MEK -- all of which do a number on waxes, but they also harm silicone, so I wouldn't use those.
posted by buzzv at 8:14 PM on February 8, 2010
Chocolate Pickle: That's for sure. I used to make molds out of silicone so that I could cast lead figures. They weren't harmed by me pouring melted metal into them.
Dayumm!
And, from the OP:
I'm pretty sure it's ruined for food at least. I put it in a baking dish and poured boiling water over it and soaked it for 8 hours, put it through the dishwasher twice, and also let it soak in Dawn overnight. The wax never stuck to the mold.. it's the crayon colours that stained the mold in about 10 different spots.
Once again, what about this "mold is colored in a way that won't leach out into boiling water with soap overnight so it's probably indelible and was a safe-to-eat dye anyway" says "ruined for food" to you? Cuz I'm just not following...
posted by IAmBroom at 8:24 PM on February 8, 2010
Dayumm!
And, from the OP:
I'm pretty sure it's ruined for food at least. I put it in a baking dish and poured boiling water over it and soaked it for 8 hours, put it through the dishwasher twice, and also let it soak in Dawn overnight. The wax never stuck to the mold.. it's the crayon colours that stained the mold in about 10 different spots.
Once again, what about this "mold is colored in a way that won't leach out into boiling water with soap overnight so it's probably indelible and was a safe-to-eat dye anyway" says "ruined for food" to you? Cuz I'm just not following...
posted by IAmBroom at 8:24 PM on February 8, 2010
Best answer: Jeez, she doesn't want to make food with her weirdly-stained-by-crayons silicon mold, can we just accept that and answer the question that was actually asked? Heaven forbid she spend like, Oh My God, twenty dollars or whatever and has one for food and one for crafts.
Anyway my vote is for heart shaped bath bombs!
posted by nanojath at 10:15 PM on February 8, 2010 [2 favorites]
Anyway my vote is for heart shaped bath bombs!
posted by nanojath at 10:15 PM on February 8, 2010 [2 favorites]
Best answer: I'm going to guess that if it isn't leaching into boiling water, it won't leach into cupcakes. Trying baking a throwaway batch of something light-colored to see? It should be pretty obvious, and ingestion of trace amounts of art supplies made for young children doesn't seem like something anyone needs to worry about - I'm sure we ate enough of it during childhood anyways.
But, mold uses:
candles, as mentioned above. (my brother made some in dixie cups once, dyed with crayons, and the crayon kind of sunk to the bottom, giving the most gorgeous ombre effect.)
more crayons - once it's stained, no use in worrying about it.
Fill with plaster of paris and paint to use as magnets, ornaments, pins, paperweights...
Fill with gelatin soap, melted in microwave (we once bought a huge block of it at a local craft sore), mixed with appropriate scents/colorings. You can also put a tiny plastic toy in there if it's for a child. Dried flowers or similar might be pretty for adults. I've heard you can also melt normal soaps, but I can't say for sure.
I found this page with some good suggestions, too, including a recipe for sidewalk chalk.
posted by R a c h e l at 10:18 PM on February 8, 2010 [1 favorite]
But, mold uses:
candles, as mentioned above. (my brother made some in dixie cups once, dyed with crayons, and the crayon kind of sunk to the bottom, giving the most gorgeous ombre effect.)
more crayons - once it's stained, no use in worrying about it.
Fill with plaster of paris and paint to use as magnets, ornaments, pins, paperweights...
Fill with gelatin soap, melted in microwave (we once bought a huge block of it at a local craft sore), mixed with appropriate scents/colorings. You can also put a tiny plastic toy in there if it's for a child. Dried flowers or similar might be pretty for adults. I've heard you can also melt normal soaps, but I can't say for sure.
I found this page with some good suggestions, too, including a recipe for sidewalk chalk.
posted by R a c h e l at 10:18 PM on February 8, 2010 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: I don't want to bake food in a mold that contained melted non-Crayola crayons. Period.
posted by czechmate at 1:16 PM on February 9, 2010
posted by czechmate at 1:16 PM on February 9, 2010
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Maybe you daughter would like to use it to make hearts with her play-doh?
posted by shesbookish at 1:45 PM on February 8, 2010