Can mold release agents and wax be used in combination?

In the composite materials industry, demoulding wax is the most common demoulding product for fiberglass and carbon fiber. It is generally presented in the form of paste, solid or semi-solid, and is used for demoulding products with low surface brightness requirements. When used on the surface of porous original models, it can also play a role in sealing small pores. Release agent is an emerging industry that has developed rapidly in just a few years and has gained a lot of recognition from users. With its convenient operation, good demolding, multiple demolding cycles, and high surface brightness, it has been widely used in various industries. 

 But recently, the editor found that some users who have just started using release agents, in order to achieve double safety during the demolding process of fiberglass products, use release agents and release wax together, believing that even if the release agent fails, there is still release wax at the bottom, in order to seek a sense of security. In fact, this is a misconception. Release agents originally have strong adhesion to the mold material. If a layer of release wax is laid on the bottom, it becomes that the release agent is not attached to the mold, but to the soft release wax. This will inevitably lead to a decrease in the number of demolding cycles, a decrease in product brightness, and a series of other situations such as the mold being easily dirty. Especially in the demolding process of large fiberglass products, reducing the demolding wax once saves a portion of labor costs.

For example, in the production process of large fiberglass boats, some users usually apply 7-8 times of demolding wax on the surface of the original mold for safety reasons. Imagine the amount of work required to apply 7-8 times back and forth on such a large object as a fiberglass boat? In addition, some users may also use release agents, which results in low production efficiency.

It is worth noting that the release agent and release wax cannot be used in combination, and must be used in a reasonable way to maximize their effectiveness. For example, when encountering irregular parts (more complex products), it is difficult to apply release agent evenly. Generally, we recommend that users apply release wax on the edges and corners to achieve the best effect.