The Breast Form FAQ version 4.0: Miscellaneous "make your own form" directions

Quite a number of people have written to me describing various other simple solutions for creating their own breast forms. What follows are descriptions of the methods they have used. I have not tried any of these solutions myself, so I can't confirm how useful (or not) they are - this section is listed here to at least give you some ideas if you are attempting to create your own breast forms. I also don't know if all the materials listed are considered to be totally safe for use against the skin for long periods of time - always be sure to confirm this and play it safe!

Please email me if you have suggestions for improving any of these instructions, if you have experimented with altering any of these methods, or you have ideas for other make-your-own forms that are not listed here.

Also, here are a couple interesting links I found about creating your own breast forms:

Water

It looks like plain old water may be the cheapest solution out there, aside from the biggest "gotcha" that you could always have a rather damp accident at a time when you least need it.

"Here is a quick, effective and very cost-efficient breast form. It's what I and many others I've shared this secret with use.

Materials:

4 non-lubricated thick condoms (maybe gold coin or other thick quality condom.)
Steps:

Using two of the condoms, unroll them, one inside the other.
Blow the condoms up like a balloon in order to stretch them out for about five minutes.
Let the air out.
Fill the inner balloon with hot water (as the water fills the condom, it weighs it down, creating a very round shape at the bottom.)
Fill it past the desired size/water volume.
Push out excess water until you have reached the water volume you desire, and all the excess air.
Tie the condoms shut in a double knot.
Notes:

Padded bras may support the form better than a regular bra will.
You could sew a sort of prosthesis pocket into your bra with fabric or even nylons to hold this form.
The weight of this type of form may hold excess skin in place to create cleavage...just pull excess skin towards the middle of your chest and experiment."

"It is very simple to use large 1 quart plastic baggies and fill them with water. This requires a full coverage bra. You can close a baggie with a twist-tie, but it will leak about one droplet per hour. It's probably a good idea to double-bag them, sealing each bag separately. This prevents them from breaking when you relocate them to the optimal position.

When you install them into a bra, I typically like to put the twistie part up higher with the bag ends hanging down sideways, like a triangle with the twistie at the top and the ends of the bag on either side of your chest wall (one end near the arm pit, one end near the center of your chest). Make sure the baggie is nowhere near full - about 50% full (with all air squeezed out) is optimal.

If you do this, and if you wear a full-coverage bra, you will get absolutely the most realistic look possible. There will be a "tail" that goes under the arm, and if the bra has a natural shape, you will get exactly the same shape as a genetic girl. It will also "jiggle" much like a genetic girl, so be careful with things like horseback riding, etc."

Jello

I guess this person took the slogan "watch it wiggle, see it jiggle" very seriously! This person mentions that the shape is not very realistic, but that is just a matter of creating a mold of the proper shape (no, I don't really have any good ideas about that - welcome to suggestions!) You might also consider simple hair styling gel for a solution like this too - it's cheap and has a fairly decent consistency. Gel especially will have a tendency to slowly "flow" to fill the shape of the bra cup containing them, which is probably your aim.

"I have been experimenting with jelly or as American's call it jello. I made a single breast form in a plastic bowl, about the shape of the desired item, but the bottom part was flat, but hey what the heck I was only playing around at the time. I placed two pints of water and three packs of jelly mixture (over here we get it in rather wobbly preset jelly which we add hot water to and allow to dissolve then cool to set it again), some places it's a powder I think. Anyway, having added the water and jelly, I added arrowroot powder to the mixture, which thickens it even more! The result, having poured the contents into a plastic bag, then into the possible mould, is a fairly good first attempt if I say so myself. The shape isn't right either, but having tried it in a bra, it's feeling nice and snug!"

Silicone Caulking or Lubricant

Several people turned to variations of the filling used for expensive breast forms: silicone. I don't know how realistic these feel, how safe the materials are, or how well the forms hold up over time, so please let me know.

"Materials:

Three 12" helium grade balloons
$1.50 electricians silicone wire lubricant
A pencil with new eraser
Steps:

Pre-stretch the balloons by blowing them up to 12" diameter
Using the eraser end of the pencil insert one balloon into another
Insert the 3rd balloon into the two
Force the wire lube into the innermost balloon a) Allow excess air to escape b) Cleanup is easy with a wet cloth c) Do not release the innermost balloon until tied off
Tie off innermost balloon with the lube in it and clean up excess
Inflate middle balloon enough for innermost balloon to drop inside
Allow all excess air to escape then tie off middle balloon
Inflate the outer balloon enough to drop tied off balloons inside. Release all excess air then tie off the last balloon."

"I have used a couple of latex condoms and a few tubes of latex caulk. Using a caulk gun, unroll the condom and insert the end of the caulk tube into the condom and fill the condom (be sure to support condom so it doesn't fall and burst.) I use about two tubes of caulk per form and caulk can be bought for about $2 a tube. The tip of condom makes a fairly good nipple and caulk will firm up over time. Although they cannot be attached they are pretty convincing under clothing, have some weight and they look fairly natural."

"I began with foam to achieve a form shape as you have described. I then sculpted a positive form image in plaster and impressed the form into liquid plaster to achieve a negative form to be used as the cast. Next I used standard silicon caulking to line the cast in thin layers, allowing each to dry with proper ventilation and gradually developing the flexibility I desired. I then created another positive form in foam, slightly smaller than the interior dimensions of the positive silicon form, then inserted the foam to the silicon."