?!Hectograph?! what?

I have happily stumbled into the world of youtube surfing.  And pintrest, and craft gawker...  I'm doomed to not have any free time with these great eye candy sites, and a busy family too.  I really enjoy Lindsay from "The Frugal Crafter."  permanent gelatin printing plate aka hectograph video & post.  I was inspired to try it too.  The first video I saw she showed a recipe using alcohol and water and gelatin.  Another youtuber told of her trial & error & this, and the horrible stink it made in her home.  Revisions were done & showed Linsay changed her recipe to 7 packages of gelatin, 1.5cups glycerine, 1.5 cups boiled water.  I also heeded cautions not to use equipment that would be used for food.  I even commented asking what type of tray she used, but I couldn't find anything similar.  So at the dollar store I bought a cheapie 8x8 pan, a plastic measure, and a little silicone loaf pan to try it out.  For the 8x8 pan I went with 3 packages gelatin, 3/4 cup glycerine, 3/4 cup boiled distilled water.  The mini loaf pan took 1 pack glycerine, 1/4 cup glycerine, 1/4 cup boiled distilled water.  Why distilled water?  Our water has a lot of calcium, some iron and fluoride, which I didn't want to chance react with it.  I prefer to use distilled water for my crafting because it doesn't get scummy as fast if it sits forgotten in the craft lab.

I left the experiment on the counter & it set up slowly.  I stuck it in the fridge to move it along.  Hours later it did indeed gel up firmly.  The little one  was disappointing to unmold.  I had high hopes since the silicone pan is bendy & easy to twist.  It was a gooey mess.  I put it back in the microwave, remelted & tried again in the fridge.  It did set up again, but is getting tacky at room temperature.  The 8x8 pan, straight from the fridge was nice & firm but sitting on the counter at room temperature became sticky.  Phooey.  I thought once it became plastic it would be okay at room temperature?  I'm not digging another thing to store in the fridge.  Did I mention we are currently in a heat wave?  Precious fridge space is for cold meals & drinks, priorities right?  Maybe I don't have quite enough gelatin in there?  I will remelt & add a bit of alcohol & see if that helps.  It can't hurt as it is destined for the garbage otherwise.