Blog

Broken Finger on Your LifeCast? It happens. Fingers break off sometimes. Unless you've dropped the casting and really messed it up, gluing on a finger or two shouldn't be the end of the world. Super g…

As you know, alginate is a one time mold. Most of the time, only one casting can be poured from it before the mold shrinks. In many ways, this is a feature rather than a bug.The question today is, "On…

Some people see lifecasting as an "arts & crafts" project to distinguish it from a "pure" artform. In our opinion, its a distinction without a difference.After all painters just apply paint to a c…

How to Get Children to Cooperate A lot of small children recoil at the prospect of putting their hand into a "scary bucket of goo". Obviously they don't understand exactly why they're do…

Hand Holding Object Hand casting holding an object can unlock new creative ideas for you. Hand casting is limited only by your imagination. If you can see it, you can most likely do it.…

WETA Workshop in New Zealand did the most of the special effects makeup for the epic Lord of the Rings trilogy. They used Accu-Cast alginates to make the head casts of the principle actors on whi…

Alginate- The Key to Mixing Well Some people call us to complain that their alginate mixed poorly. Our mixing instructions are carefully written, but we feel terrible when customers fail. Com…

Alginate is sold as a powder. It needs to be mixed with water to make it work.How Much Water?There are two ways to calculate this.One method is simple but not that accurate.The other method is very ac…

Hand Casting is one of the simpler types of lifecasts. It is fun, inexpensive and an excellent way to begin learning lifecasting.This is a two part process- making the "mold" and making the "casting".…

Are you a new mom? Do you know a new mom?Few things are as beautiful an precious as your baby's hand. You can do a hand casting at home and produce an heirloom that will only get more valuable with ti…

Our BabyGel (380) Alginate is our number 1 seller. Our customers love it. Here is what I know about it.HistoryAbout 10 years ago a good customer of ours asked me to make a "Color-Changing" algina…

Types of MoldsThere are two types of alginate molds- a "Bucket Mold" and a "Layup Mold".In a Bucket Mold, the alginate is poured into some type of container and the mold is made in that. Plaster banda…

Measuring by WeightThe very best way to figure your water/powder is by weight, not volume.Alginate can be completely "fluffed" or completely "packed", but it is usually somewhere in between. This make…

How Much do You Know about Alginate Setting?Even people who use alginate a lot are often unclear about what makes alginate set and how other factors can affect the setting time. I thought I’d share wi…

Alginate is incredibly safe. Dental alginate, essentially the same as prosthetic alginate, has been used BILLIONS of times IN people's mouths by dentists all over the world during the past 70 years. T…

Alginate's been around since the 1940's. During that time its been used primarily for dental impressions. Dentists want a very specific thing from an alginate- fast setting time.For decades, the only…

There are more uses for alginate than most people realize. This post is about a particular application, but you might be interested in the alginate that is used and WHY it's different from traditional…

This is usually the first question we get asked- just before, "What alginate should I use?"As you may know, there are two basic types of alginate molds- The "Bucket Mold (hands, etc.)" and the "Layup…

We have a lot of information on this website. It can feel overwhelming at first- but it's really pretty simple. Alginate is sold as a powder. It is a combination of a bunch of organic and inorganic c…