Rings For Silicone Kits

Let’s talk about rings for Silicone Kits…

From a very early start as a doll maker, I have added plastic rings to my Silicone Heads. Silicone has a hard time moving against other materials like cloth or even other silicone. There is always a bit of grip when rotating it. It is the reason we put a silky matting or powder on it when dressing our babies. So that the clothes slide with a bit more ease and we don’t risk ripping or tearing at the paint or more delicate spots of our silicone body parts.

In the last 5-7 years, I started adding plastic rings to the limbs as well, for the same reasons as the head. The limbs just rotate nicer in a cloth body.

With making the silicone kits for MacPherson’s Arts and Craft, we decided we would add/put on rings to all the limbs and heads to every kit. A special added something that helps when making your perfect baby.

I am noticing some artists are taking the rings off before they start painting.  Maybe its because they want to paint under the ring, which is great because the ring can be slid off…. but how do they put them back on???

I have prepared a video to show you how. Both for bigger and smaller limbs (this is the same method for the head as well).

Questions For You:

Do you like the rings?

Would you prefer the rings put on the blank kit for you or would you rather put them on yourself after your kit is painted?

Do you have a different method of putting on the rings to your silicone piece?

Added and Edited

I’ve come back with new findings and need to edit my information. I’ve heated the rings in a NuWave and have discovered that a moderate amount of heat does not affect the rings in any way. They don’t crack or warp. So the silicone can be heated with the rings still attached to them.

The Dainty Loft adds extra silicone to the flange on the limbs to allow the customers to feel safe about putting the flanges into the cloth body and not having it slip out of the ring and body. However, sometimes that can add bulk to the body and make pivoting the limb awkward and in that case, it is completely fine to cut some of the flange parts off (not too much or else they will slip out). Wonderful Jorja Pigott from Pigottsplaypen has made a video with an added tip on how she secures her rings.

We cant wait to hear from you and we hope this post has been helpful!

KrisC

 

 

6 thoughts on “Rings For Silicone Kits

    • KrisC says:

      Hi,
      For our plastic rings, we have tested the silicone next to and on top of them and the silicone both will cure and will not degrade next to it. If you are referring to whether silicone will cure on or with something it is always best to do a small test patch. Absolutely NO latex should ever touch your uncured silicone or a piece you want to paint. If you are referring to plastic sitting next to cured silicone there are many products that have silicone and plastic next to each other, ie, silicone phone cases on phones, spatulas with plastic handles, silicone pacifiers with plastic handles. The only medium that should never touch silicone for long periods of time is clay. I once had a silicone tummy plate sit on the belly of my clay doll but a tiny piece of it was touching her cheek…after a few months it made a white spot and caused a large crack on the face. The clay will discolor and degrade. If you choose to have silicone touch another medium I always suggest keeping an eye on it, just in case. I hope that helps, KrisC

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Silicone Doll Kits