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Slush moulding is a closely related but somewhat different technique to dip moulding and is used for the production of flexible and semi-rigid mouldings where a detailed surface finish is required on the outside of the moulding. Whereas a male former or tool is used to produce a dip moulding reproducing the tool surface on the inside of the moulding, slush moulding enables you to produce the fine detail effects on the outside of the moulding using a hollow female mould or tool, in effect, the reverse of dip moulding.
The mould is pre-heated then filled with liquid material to a pre-determined level, subsequently the curing process starts resulting in the desired wall thickness. The remaining liquid material is then decanted and final curing takes place, after which the tool is cooled and the finished moulding is stripped from the mould.
The process needs either fabricated steel, cast or machined aluminium tools and it is because such tooling in inexpensive, by comparison with, for instance, injection or blow moulding, that small and medium quantities can be moulded allowing considerable design freedom. Typical applications are toys, dolls heads, manikin models, containers, balls, large gaiters and many others. |
