CharliesMomma

That's quite the experience. The whole death mask thing sounds very I don't know eerie? But at the same time I never thought I'd be asking for pictures of our family laying with and holding our dying child but when you have had limited opportunities for family photos and its your last chance altogether the perspective on things like that change. It's a painful thing to look at but it's the last living memory of him and all you can see in those photos is the pain but also the love. The pain is the proof of the love.

oh perhaps I misunderstood because she did say after the alginate they did the plaster casting so they used the same plaster for the hand print in the heart. It sat over night more than 12 hours (as it was done in the middle of the night and they were able to send it home with us that afternoon so I think from like midnight to 6ish). It was stored in a box wrapped in tissue paper I often opened it to look at it through most of April and May and we pulled it out to put it on display at the beginning of June which is when we noticed the discolouration. so it's been sitting out for nearly a month now. So you think it's just a discolouration? My hubby said some of it was brushing off as he touched it which is why we thought mold or mildew and it looks dark and seems to be gathering in the creases.

Thats what we did as soon as we noticed it! I heard back from them surprisingly quick: For the heart shaped they used the Creatology Plaster Molding Kit I’ve included the back as it shows the materials utilized. But it appears to be a “creatology Plaster molding kit” (usually sold at michaels/amazon etc). Which just lists its contents as Precious Gel and Premium plaster (plus the plastic mold etc.) but as I mentioned they first tried with the included plaster and it didn't work so they used the geltrate so not sure if any residue or anything could have caused the issue? For the casted hand they used Geltrate (alginate) to create the mold and then plaster. https://dentalbrands.ca/jeltrate-alginate-fast-or-regular-set/ Does that information help anyone? Thank you for following up on this I really appreciate it. As Lee said this is excruciating and I am trying to be grateful for what we do have left and not get angry over a mold but I can never get another one again.

Okay thank you for that input thats what I was afraid of is ruining it by cleaning it incorrectly. I'm also afraid though of it getting more ruined as mold and mildew spread. It was the hospital that did it, their child life specialists and honestly they didn't seem that confident in their knowledge of the product. The heart shaped one that is forming the mildew was from another kit like just one of those kids ones you can buy to make a hand print with just a clear plastic mold but they tried it and the mixture didn't work so they got the one they used to make the cast were just like "hopefully this works" and used it in the heart shaped mold. could there have been a reaction from some cross contamination? The cast turned out fine (so far) and it was the same material. I have emailed them to see if they can provide any info.

Hi there, My son passed away this April. While we were in the hospital before we said goodbye they did two molds of his hand one was like full dunk of his hand into what may have been plaster but I can't be certain because I'm not experienced in this area then they did another one in a heart shaped mold that has his hand print. They kept it for a few days to let it dry and we brought it home but didn't put it on display yet because we wanted to figure out where to place it without damaging it. We did take it out to look at it and put it back in the box. I had gone to get a spray because I didn't think it was sealed. When we were ready to pull it out to spray it it appears to be covered in mold as it has turned a bluish grey in many parts. We've taken it out now and left it out. What can I do? can I remove it and if I seal it will it protect it. I can't handle losing it. the full hand I actually hold in my hand with his thumb wrapped around my finger because I miss him holding my hand at night to fall asleep. Please tell my broken heart I can fix this? I don't know what it was made of. It was white. they used a powder and water to make it and feels like plaster of Paris so I'm guessing thats what it is. I realize this is more for ceramics but I thought if you work with ceramics and clay you might have some ideas to help with this