How to Protect Your Mold from Damaging PVC Outgassing

If you are molding PVC, then hydrochloric and hydrobromic acids are constantly attacking your mold. Unchecked, these acids can lead to pitting, oxidation and other mold damaage.

Staving off the damage to your valuable requires a three-pronged approach: 1) Protecting the mold from outgassing; 2) Quickly and thoroughly removing plate-out and resin build up; and 3) Protecting the mold when it is offline and/or in storage.

Step 1: Use a combination mold release agent and acid neutralizer. A mold release with a powerful base material will constantly work to neutralize the acids as they are being emitted from the PVC resin. As you reapply the mold release, the neutralizing agent is strengthened to provide constant protection against the acids.

Step 2: While molding PVC, the release of the acids can lead to plate-out and resin build up on the mold surface. Select a mold cleaner to be used with the mold still in the machine with a surface temperature above 175°F. The combination of cleaner and heat break down and soften the residue. After approximately 90 seconds, the mold is put back into production. The fresh resin injected into the mold cavity will combine with the unwanted resin material and strip it from the mold, leaving behind a clean, residue-free surface.

Step 3: Use a rust preventive that offers protection against not only moisture and fingerprint acids, but also against corrosion and oxidation caused by the presence of hydrochloric acid. Imagine a mold that has been closed up for storage, trapping large amounts of the acids inside the mold cavity. Without a specialized product to help neutralize the acids, that mold will corrode with major pitting problems that require expensive repairs.

Test Slide Before You Buy

Slide has a family of products that work to prevent damage from the acids released when molding PVC. 1) Mold Saver Release Agent is a combination release agent and acid neutralizer. 2) Resin Remover is Slide’s most sought-after resin remover on warm molds. 3) And Acid Vapor Neutralizer offers up to two months of protection from hydrochloric and hydrobromic acids.

Slide offers Free Trial Samples, which you can order online at www.slideproducts.com. Or you can contact your local Slide Products distributor, which you can find here.

Learn more about mold releases, cleaners and rust preventives