Looking into making my own soft baits out of old plastics to save money. Does anyone have any tips to make them look better/have better action? Any tips in general because I'm just starting off. 

This kind of question is better suited for google, plenty of articles and guides to read up on.

This is an excellent website for that very thing.

http://custombaits.com/index.php

Depends what baits you want. Some can be open pour and molds are cheaper or you can make your own. Others need to be injection which means more expensive molds and added price of injector.

I used to pour my own worms and crawdads. If you go this rout, keep your colors separated. If you mix colors and re-melt worms together, you sort of get varying degrees of opaque baby poop brown. I never got the original color back, it gets muddy. The plastic looses it's flexibility too. The second run isn't as soft as the first. I was playing with making soft crank baits so the harder plastic worked out fine but not so well for the worms.

I whittled my  worm out of wood . Then i pushed the model half way into a box of plaster of paris . When it hardened I poured plaster  of paris over the top . I used a pencil or straw , cant remember ,for a vent hole . Whittled out a funnel opening for pouring . I just mixed all my plastics together and it came out brown . The worms worked well  . I havent made any for years .

 

 

 

 

I like the silicone open pour molds you can get for cheap. Make sure to get a pyrex measuring cup (should be microwavable and glass). I recommend keeping your colors separate, and also some baits separate from others.

 

For example I have no issue combining different types of plastics or brands as long as the composition is similar. Like someone mentioned the second time around the plastic becomes a little harder. I buy plastisol and pour a little plastisol in with the chopped up plastics, this helps keep the reused plastic from burning. Glitter looses its shine the more you heat it, so you may need to add a little more glitter if you want. Also I add scent just before pouring. This helps kill any burnt smell the plastisol may have.

 Make sure to chop the plastics in small pieces. Not big chunks. Then melt them. For the specifics of melting:

Find some youtube videos on how to make soft plastic baits. There are a ton of them out there and many very good.