Tips on how to prevent sticking concrete

Sticking concrete that adheres to your moulds is a well-known issue that is easy to prevent. In this article we will give you some information and tips to prevent your concrete from sticking.

Sticking concrete can cause quality issues and even damage to your concrete surface. The physical features of the concrete are affected and it is possible the concrete is damaged so bad that it is not usable anymore. Sticking concrete also affects the quality of your moulds with residual concrete that is left adhered.

Cleaning these moulds and repairing your concrete can cost a huge amount of time and money!

What causes sticking concrete?                

There are several causes for sticking concrete. To prevent this issue, it is needed to gain information in the causes of the problem. The most common causes are:

• You are using the wrong type of release agent. When you are not using a proper release agent for that specific type of concrete, the concrete might not be released in the desired way;
• The vibrating of the concrete is not done in the correct way, resulting in the wear and tear of the release agent. This means the concrete adheres directly to the mould resulting in sticking;
• The pouring process of the concrete at only one spot in the mould. This also affects the applied release agent on the mould resulting in the same sticking residues caused by wrong vibration;
• Improper curing process. When you don’t give your concrete enough time to cure, it might be too wet when being released. The sticking concrete will be damaged by the vacuum phenomenon that occurs.

Tips: How to prevent sticking concrete

To assist you in improving your production process, we want to give you some advice to prevent sticking concrete to your moulds:

Tip 1: Use and correctly apply a specially developed release agent that is able to lubricate the mould to avoid releasing issues; 

Tip 2: Vibrate the concrete at several spots in the concrete to avoid the wear and tear of the release agent;

Tip 3: When pouring the concrete into the moulds, make sure it is done with movements to avoid the degradation of the release agent;

Tip 4: Let the concrete cure and harden completely thus avoiding the chance of a vacuum;

Tip 5: Employ good mould housekeeping with maintenance and cleanliness.

To avoid sticking, it is recommended to have a good balance between the proper release agent, competence of the staff and the workmanship at the production site. More information on sticking concrete on your moulds can be found in our guide for quality in concrete production. In this eBook, other problems in the concrete industry and how we can solve this are discussed.