My sweet babydoll of a husband bought me a set of cake dummies and now that I have them I feel like I'm at a loss!

I've heard of some decorators covering their dummies in saran or something like it so that they can keep reusing them.

Does anyone have any tips for me? What should I use to try and cover them with?

Thanks in advance!!!

i just use my regular buttercream (w/o the flavoring) and satin ice fondant to cover them.. When i want to change them i just soak them in some warm water for a bit and the icing/fondant comes right off. If the buttercream has had time to dry completely i can usually just slide a butter knife under it and it will pop off. Wash it in warm water with a little soap and it's good to go.

If you just cover them in crisco and then fondant the fondant is really easy to remove when you're done. Then just pop them in the dishwaher to clean.

Oh! So I don't have to cover them with something? I can just rewash the styrofoam straight up? Awesome!

Yup, I just use crisco...helps smooth them out and makes it easy to remove the fondant after.

i should specify, i don't use the buttercream under the fondant, just like what the other said, crisco (or water) just needs something to stick too.

I wasn't sure if you were wanting to use buttercream or fondant.

awesome. thanks guys!!!

If the fondant stays on the cakes until it is rock hard, it becomes more difficult to remove it, even with crisco. The dummies can be placed in the dishwasher to clean up. They come out spotless.

I don't cover them with plastic wrap. That sounds like a total PITA. Hot water wash and they're good to go again. And again.

Regular white styrofoam for dummies not the really hard fine textured kind for crafts.

oh kinda like that styrofoam form pieces they use around packing tvs/comps/etc?ike the mannequin heads?

Yes

oh ok. haha. I've just never heard of putting it in the dishwasher. Not that I think I've ever had an excuse to put styrofoam in a dishwasher...

Thanks guys for all the help!!! Hopefully now I can practice a lot more and get better with my decorating.

You can definitely use the craft/floral styrofoam for dummies and they can be put in the dishwasher and re-used.

I do it all the time--I acutally prefer that type of styro to the pebble foam.

Rae

I 'paint' on a thin coat of shortening before covering with fondant or buttercream. It makes for an easier clean up when I'm ready to change designs.