# Home-Cast Latex Film
Human page: https://retifist.com/literature-reviews/liquid-home-cast-film
> **Safety.** Ammonia, coagulant salts, metal hygiene. No copper, brass, or galvanized iron on latex-contact equipment.[^1]
## Executive summary
Form film from liquid latex on a bed, mould, or former. Spreading, casting, and coagulant dipping have handbook physics. Thickness levers: total solids, dwell, viscosity, coagulant.[^2]
Pathway primer: [Forming film from liquid latex](/literature-reviews/liquid-film-pathway). Geometry: [Former dip, mould cast, and flat spread](/literature-reviews/liquid-former-dip-vs-mould-cast-vs-flat-spread).
---
## Lab glass spread
Compounded latex spread on glass with a wire-wound knife. **Anode:** coagulant then latex. **Teague:** latex first. Leach 20–30 min at 40–50 °C.[^3]
Closest handbook locus to a flat glass bed. Laboratory evaluation method.
---
## Industrial belt spreading
US 2,415,028: continuous spreading of vulcanizable latex on a conveyor, including multi-ply.[^4] US 2,129,607: successive coats with drying between.[^5]
---
## Coagulant dip for thicker walls
Dry films thicker than about 8 mils usually use coagulant for faster build.[^2] Wet-gauge levers: % TSC, coagulant strength, dwell, viscosity, withdrawal speed.[^2]
See [Coagulant dipping for wearable thickness](/literature-reviews/liquid-coagulant-dipping-wearable-thickness).
---
## Casting in a cavity
Moulding/casting gels latex inside a cavity, mainly hollow articles. Plaster vs metal mould requirements.[^6] See [Heat-sensitized gelation](/literature-reviews/liquid-heat-sensitized-gelation).
---
## Humidity, air, and metals
Multi-coat lamination window around 45–50% RH.[^2] Air in compound → pinholes.[^2] No copper, brass, galvanized on latex equipment.[^1]
Defects: [Liquid film defects](/literature-reviews/liquid-film-defect-atlas).
---
Deep dive: Anode vs Teague
Process order changes gel structure. Leach times as above. Evaluation-film technique.[^3]
Deep dive: Belt patents
Continuous conveyor and multi-coat industrial sheet-from-latex lineage.[^4][^5]
---
## Endnotes
[^1]: Vanderbilt Latex Handbook — metal hygiene (Ch 16).
[^2]: Vanderbilt Latex Handbook — coagulant economics and wet-gauge levers (Ch 16).
[^3]: Vanderbilt Latex Handbook — lab spread, Anode vs Teague, leach example (Ch 14).
[^4]: US Patent 2,415,028 — industrial spreading of vulcanizable latex (conveyor / multi-ply).
[^5]: US Patent 2,129,607 — successive coats of latex with drying between.
[^6]: *Polymer Latices Vol 3 — Application of Latices* — moulding/casting; plaster vs metal (§23.3).