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| BASIC TIPS SHEET |
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Basic Tips Sheet |
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Using Polymer Clays - A BASIC TIPS SHEET
email: info@polymerclaypit.co.uk
Polymer Clay is a highly versatile modelling material that is hardened by baking in the home oven. Once baked it is permanent and can be cut, sawn, glued, painted or added to and re-baked. It comes under the brand names of Fimo, Sculpey, Premo, and Creall-Therm to name those usually available in Britain. Polymer Clay is sold in a wide range of colours and these can be mixed together to make further colours. Most brands also produce a “transparent” or translucent clay which can be used on its own or mixed with colours to make delicate translucent pastel shades. There is also night-glow, various pearl and metallic clays and fluorescent clays. Doll makers are well provided for and all the manufacturers produce clays especially for dolls. |
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EQUIPMENT
Most equipment will be at hand in your own home. The following items are the most useful:
A working board. A smooth melamine chopping board is ideal, or else a ceramic tile or a formica table mat.
Craft knife. A craft knife with a curved blade is the most versatile. Tissue blades are invaluable for slicing millefiori canes and cutting straight edges on sheets of clay.
Rolling pin. An acrylic or nylon roller is best for rolling out clay but a small, strong glass bottle with smooth sides or a jam jar will do fine. Avoid wooden rolling pins which stick to the clay. A pasta machine is great fun to use with polymer clay and makes rolling sheets really fast.
Large needles. Use a darning needle for piercing beads. Use blunt-pointed tapestry needles for texturing, making eye-sockets and indenting lines.
Baking tray. Covered with non-stick baking parchment or ordinary paper for baking the clay.
Methylated spirits. For de-greasing before gluing or painting.
Baby Wipes - for cleaning hands and work surfaces.
Talcum powder. Useful if you find the clay getting sticky when rolling or using cutters. |
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MAKING
Always work each piece of polymer clay in your hands before use to soften it. Premo and Sculpey need minimal kneading. Creall-Therm and Fimo need more.
If the clay is too soft, press a pancake of clay between two sheets of ordinary white paper and leave for a few hours or overnight so that some of the oily plasticizer leaches out. Clay that is too stiff can be softened by kneading with Sculpey Clay Softener or Fimo Mix Quick.
Try to avoid poking and patting the object you are making. For jewellery making, once a piece of clay has been added, do not try to reshape it because the result will be messy. If you are not happy with it, remove the piece and start again. It is not necessary to squash pieces together to affect a join as they will fuse together when baked; gentle but firm pressure is all that is needed. Fingernail marks and dirty fingerprints on light colours will ruin your results so keep your hands clean, wiping them with wet wipes between colours if necessary. Some clays are more easily smoothed than others. This means that added clay can be smoothed in at the edges to leave no join. |
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MIXING
Polymer clay colours can be mixed together to make new colours. Different brands can be mixed together but avoid mixing different brands of doll clay - there have been a few reports that these mixtures can deteriorate in time. Soften the two colours you want to mix first and then work them together, folding and rolling until all the streaks have disappeared. When making pastel colours, add only a very small quantity of colour to white: about 1 part colour to 8 parts white. If you roll both colours into equal diameter sausages, it is easier to estimate the quantities. e.g.1cm colour to 8cms white. You can mix most colours from a basic palette of blue, yellow and magenta or crimson red, plus black and white. Translucent clay can be tinted with small quantities of coloured clay. |
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BAKING
Polymer clays should be baked in the oven on a baking sheet covered with foil or baking parchment for about 20 minutes to 1 hour at 130º C / 275º F. The clay will not harden until completely cool. Clay that has not been baked long enough will be fragile and break easily. Items can be rebaked several times without harm. Beware of overheating the clay by letting the oven temperature go too high as it gives off toxic fumes when burnt. If you have problems with baking, your oven thermostat may not be accurate so check with a separate oven thermometer - some ovens can over- or under-heat considerably. Try baking a test sheet: a thin, baked sheet of any of the strong clays should bend into a U-bend without snapping. Sculpey III remains fragile.
Gas ovens: Try baking a test piece on Gas mark 1/2 or 1/4. If the clay is discoloured, turn the oven down. If it is very fragile, turn the oven up. |
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GLUING
For gluing jewellery findings to baked clay, or baked clay to baked clay, use superglue. Two part epoxy glues such as Araldite are the strongest to use for jewellery findings and recommended if you sell your work. Superglue is excellent for mending clay breakages. PVA glue is useful for gluing soft items to baked clay such as fabric or dolls’ hair. If you want to add fresh clay to a piece already baked, a smear of PVA or stick glue (for gluing card and paper) will help it adhere better. |
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PAINTING
Baked polymer clay can be painted with acrylic paints such as Humbrol hobby paints or artists' acrylics. Do not use enamel paint as it will not dry properly. De-grease the baked clay by brushing with methylated spirits or nail varnish remover before painting. For more permanent results and particularly for doll faces, varnish before painting (with either matt or gloss varnish) and again, when the paint is dry. |
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VARNISH
Use only acrylic or alcohol-based varnish on baked polymer clays. Do not use polyurethane, enamel or oil based varnishes which will never dry properly on polymer clay. Baked polymer clay does not need varnishing unless you want a shiny surface (use gloss varnish) or to protect paints or powders applied to the clay. |
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METALLIC AND PEARL POWDERS
These are brushed onto soft clay before baking and give wonderful effects simulating various metals. They are most effective on black clay but pearlescent powder brushed onto white clay gives wonderful pearl effects. After baking, you need to varnish with gloss varnish to protect the powder.
© The Polymer Clay Pit 1998/2000/2003 website: http://www.polymerclaypit.co.uk |
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