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Breasts: A How-To Guide, Part 3
11/10/07

Ok, at this point I'm assuming you've read 3 things already, or at least have some prior knowledge of them . . . first is an overview of breast and bra sizes and shapes from my clothes section. Second is Breasts 101 which covers reasons for using breastform alternatives, and the basic method of stuffing, and third is Breasts 102 which covers sewing a basic re-usable breastform. If stuffing or a sewn breastform is working fine for you, don't bother with this article. If you have money you can also skip this - no sense making an "acceptable" breastform with a lot of work if you can afford a fabulous pre-made one. If you're still reading, the below sections will explain a couple methods for crafting your own breastforms at home.

This advanced home-made breastform is made of silicone, just like the real ones. Don't expect it to look like the ones you can buy, or to feel quite as smooth and perfect, but this will definitely get you by for awhile in terms of look and feel through clothing. Though I don't recommend squeezing it too much as it might leak . . .

Ok, so everyone's heard of the water-bra, right? Well, this breastform works on the same principal. It's basically a silicone shell filled with water, jello, or a special material described below. You could also fill it in with solid silicone, but this makes for a rather heavy form, and takes a lot of time too!

The first trick is to create a realistic breast mold. If you have a real live breast handy, this step is much easier, but if you don't, you can probably hand-shape something reasonable. Pick out an appropriately-size Glad-Ware container, you'll need one for each breast unless you're making them one at a time . . . I used this one to make an almost-C-cup breast. Pour in some plaster of paris. You can get this stuff at any craft store, just mix it up with water. Now be careful here, as plaster of paris gets hot as it sets, enough to cause serious burns. But have your model smear a little Vaseline on her boobs, which keeps the plaster of paris from sticking, and have her lean over a table and press her breast into the Glad-Ware with the plaster of paris. You need the entire breast to fit into the Glad-Ware container without squishing in order to get a good shape. If your model complains of the heat, she should be able to pull out slowly and not ruin the mold, and the Vaseline will make sure the plaster of paris comes off and doesn't burn her. If you don't have a model, you will have to just let the plaster of paris start to set and then form it into an inverse breast when it's just hard enough that it doesn't flow back into the mold.

Let the mold set. Don't start the next step until the plaster of paris is completely set.

Wash out the Vaseline. This is really important, as silicone won't crosslink right if there's too much Vaseline left in the mold, but DON'T wash out ALL of the Vaseline or the silicone will stick to the plaster of paris and you will never get it out. Use a warm soapy rag to clean out the mold. Submerging in water might soften the plaster (not to mention take off too much Vaseline), so I don't recommend it. You don't want the mold to be greasy, but the surface should be "soft" with Vaseline.

Ok, now get some clear silicone caulk from the hardware store. You'll probably use an entire tube per breast, so get the full-sized tube and a caulk gun, it's worth it. Start squirting caulk into your mold, creating a layer about 1/4 inch thick in the shape of the breast. This is going to be your shell. Don't fill in the "interior" of the breast, as caulk won't cross-link correctly if you get layers that are too thick. And note that this is only the outer surface of your shell at this point - the part that will rest against your chest is completely open.

At this point you have a couple options. If you want to fill the entire breast with silicone, wait for the "shell" to dry, and then add another 1/4 inch thick layer, and wait for that layer to dry. Repeat until the form is solid. You can see how much time and caulk this is going to take . . .

If you want to make a water-breast, ease the shell out of the mold and clean the surface that was against the plaster (after it sets!). Now lay down a 1/4 inch thick layer of caulk on a piece of wax paper, a little larger than the chest-side of your shell. Press the shell gently onto this flat layer, just enough to get a good seal around the edges. Let the bottom layer set, and then remove from the wax paper. You can trim the excess at this point. Make a little slit in the backing layer - this is where you will "inject" the water to fill your form. Place the entire shell back in a (clean) mold to hold it in shape. Get a turkey baster or something of the sort, and squirt water into the shell via the slit you made until the shell is full. Dry any water from the backing layer!!! Then apply a bead of caulk over the slit to seal it. Be aware that because water flows so easily, the water breast is more likely to spring a leak than other forms, and you have to be really careful to seal everything up! You could also fill this form with (liquid, unflavored) jello and let the jello set, but be aware it will soften a bit as you wear it, and has the potential to get a little gross over time.

If you want a slightly firmer breast that is less likely to leak, the following material works great:

Find yourself some borax (laundry isle of most supermarkets, sold as a laundry enhancer), and mix it up with water to make a saturated solution. That means add borax to water and mix it until you can't mix anymore. If you see solids at the bottom afterwards, you're done. If you don't, add more borax and mix again. Pour off and save the solution, throw out the solids (don't let this stuff sit, it will be impossible to get out of your mixing container if you do!). I'd start with a tablespoon in 1/4 cup of water, that should do for most breast forms unless you're making a really big one : )

Next get yourself a giant container of Elmers glue (Elmers works best, I don't know about generic white paper glues). You'll want to make a 50:50 solution of Elmers and water. Try 1/4 cup Elmers with 1/4 cup water for most breast forms. Mix until you have a nice homogeneous solution.

If you used the quantities I recommended, now is the time to mix everything together. If you didn't use the recommended amounts, mix the borax solution to glue solution in a 1:2 ratio. Mix and mix and mix. If you have a blender you don't care about, that will help you along considerably. If there's excess fluid that doesn't mix into the "slime", pour off the liquid. If it's too thick and rubbery to mix, add water a LITTLE at a time. The end result should be a thick goup that pours slowly. Add some food coloring if you want to make it look flesh-toned (make it a LITTLE darker than you skin, because the clear silicone will diffuse some of the color). Red + Green will make "brown", and the white of the borax will lighten this color.

Once you've got your filler solution, pour it into your silicone shell. You can "inject" it just like the water breast version above, or you can fill a shell with no chest wall. Because the borax solution is so thick, you can cover it with silicone caulk to create the chest wall after filling the form, which saves you from having to make a chest wall, making a slit, and then sealing the slit.

If all this seems like too much work . . . wait until the next update where I'll discuss forms that can be purchased premade : )