Comparison of silicone and PU mold rubber

RTV silicone rubber is widely used to make molds for statue, cement wall decoration, concrete column, artificial stone, ornaments and millwork because RTV silicone rubber is easy to operate, has soft hardness and can be cured at room temperature. However, price of silicone rubber goes higher and higher gradually, so many mold makers change to use polyurethane rubber for mold making due to lower cost.

In addition to price concern, compared to silicone rubber, PU mold rubber is totally solvent free, more eco-friendly. PU rubber also has better physical properties, like tear strength; hence, it is more durable than silicone mold rubber.

Since TPUCO PU rubber systems are in very low viscosity, they are very suitable to make delicate molds and molds with detailed designs. The finished products made from our PU rubbers are white, so they are easily painted and colored. We list a brief comparison chart between silicone mold rubber and PU mold rubber as below for your reference.

	Silicone mold rubber	PU mold rubber
Price	Higher	Lower
Process method	Solvent type (Heating is required if necessary.)	Solvent and solvent free type (Heating is required if necessary.)
Adhesion	Normal (Release agent is not required, but can be used if necessary.)	Excellent (Release agent is required.)
Tear strength & Tensile strength	Normal	Excellent
Pot life & Demold time	Bigger adjustment range	Smaller adjustment range
Solvent resistance	Normal	Excellent
Water resistance	Excellent	Excellent
Low temperature resistance	Excellent	Normal
High temperature resistance	Normal	Excellent
Optical transmittance	Normal	Excellent
Weather resistance	Excellent	Normal

Please kindly access the following link to get more detailed information about TPUCO PU mold rubber systems.

Fast curing casting PU for concrete mold