Polymer Clay 101 pt 1 The Basics

 Watch the video here.

Today we are starting a new series on the channel covering polymer clay. To tell you the truth I thought I had already done this on this channel but when I went looking on my channel list of videos I discovered I had not. I do have a similar series over on my 18” doll channel but no one here. So we are going to fix that situation.

I wanted to start with a video that was very basic and explained first what polymer clay is. I get so many questions from people that are not familiar with this wonderful clay so I hope my explanation helps.

I did use this video in particular as an excuse to treat myself to some new blocks of clay. I wanted to able to show you all the new packaging and also share a couple of things I always try to do when opening a new block of clay. Also I didn’t feel it would be fair to compare the brands using clay that was old since it does get a little bit harder to work with as it ages for long periods of time.

I also want to be clear these are not the only brands of polymer clay on the market. These are just the ones that my local Michael's had in stock there are a couple of new to me brands that I really want to get my hands on and if I do I will share them on the channel.

The brands I do show in this video are all wonderful ones to start out with if you have not worked with the clay before and they are also the backbone of my polymer clay collection.

Once clay I did not cover and I believe is available at at least some Hobby Lobby locations is Kato Clay. That is one brand that you should stay away from if you are just beginning. It is beautiful but it is very hard so it is more difficult to work with. It is designed for jewelry makers and with experience you can get fantastic details using it. It also bakes at a much higher temperature so I personally would not mix it with other brands.

Polymer clay comes is a huge number of colors and you can mix them to create even more colors so you can work with any color you can imagine.

The brands I show in the video and other brands that bake at similar temperatures can be mixed with no issues.

By mixing clays you can get not only additional colors but you can create special effects. I will try to put a video covering that in this series later on.

Let’s talk about the clays I show in the video just a bit.

Original Sculpey- this is a very soft, white clay. It is usually cheaper by the ounce than other clays but only comes in larger packages. Fro my work on this channel I normally use it mostly in parts of my project that don’t show a lot. I do use it more in my larger scale items. It is easy to work with as far as hand strength since it i8s soft. But at the same time because it is soft it is very difficult to get good details in your project.

At the time I am writing this blog post prices range from $13.99 (US) for a 1 pound package to $32.99 (US) for a 3.75 pound package.

Craftsmart Clay- I believe is a Michael’s store brand but I am not positive, it is much softer than most of the clay I work with. Very similar to the Original
Sculpey if not maybe even a bit softer than that. It does come in many colors and seems to be a bit cheaper than the big name clays.

At the time I am writing this blog post the price is $1.99 for the standard 2 ounce block.

Sculpey III- probably the clay most of us started with when we first started working with polymer clay, this is soft clay that works up nicely for most projects. Since it is soft you won’t get the really fine details we try for in some of our mini projects but definitely a good clay to work with.

At the time I am writing this blog post the price is $2.59 for the standard 2 ounce block.

Sculpey Premo- this is the more high end offering from the people at Sculpey, so it is a bit firmer. You can get wonderful details with this clay and the colors that it come in are wonderful.

At the time I am writing this blog post the price is $2.89 for the standard 2 ounce block.

Fimo Soft-Traditionally all of us clay snobs swore by the Fimo line. Even the soft is capable of fine details and it is a fantastic clay. The people that make Fimo have several lines of clay, I just got the one block of soft for this video. When we talk about special effects that you can achieve with clay I might need to treat myself to some of their more specialized blocks.

At the time I am writing this blog post the price is $2.89 for the standard 2 ounce block.

For most colors of clay I purchase the standard 2 ounce blocks. The exception being white and translucent. Those I prefer to get in the larger 8 ounce blocks so I use so much more of them than other colors.

When you open a new package of clay I suggest you find the information on the label that needs to stay readable and cut in such a way as to preserve those areas. I showed my favorite places to cut the packages of clay open. You will want to be able to still read the color name, the brand, and the baking temperature in the future. For years I just cut the packaging open wherever and didn’t think about it. It wasn’t until I watched a tutorial by someone doing some jewelry and saw her purposely open the package to retain those pieces of information that I even thought abut it. It was truly an “oh duh” moment.

Once you clay package is cut open you will need to have a way to safely store it. I put each color into a zippered sandwich bag. I have used these since I started working with the clay over 30 years ago and I find it is the best way for me anyway. The bags can be reused when you use up the clay in them.

Those bags I store in the plastic shoe boxes you can buy almost anywhere. In the 30 + years I have been working with this clay I have never had the plastic in these boxes react with the clay.

Speaking of which you do need to be careful because polymer clay will eat right through some types of plastic. It is always a good idea to clean all the tools you use with your clay with a wet wipe after each use.

To bake the clay you can use the oven in your kitchen or a dedicated toaster oven. I really prefer to use my regular oven because I feel the temperature stays more consistent in that over a toaster oven. If you are worried about the fumes it is perfectly safe to bake you clay in a baking bag like these from Reynolds.

So let’s talk about safety as it pertains to polymer clay. The clay is nontoxic but you still do need to be careful. You don’t want to ingest it.

Anything you use that comes into contact with the raw clay can not be used for food again. So plan carefully.

Also do not leave your raw clay in your car or sitting in the hot sun as it can bake/cure in those conditions.

The last thing I want to touch on in this post is a short comparison of polymer clay to air dry clay. I know a lot of people are more familiar with air dry clay.

Polymer clay comes in many more colors than air dry clay,

Polymer clay is much more durable than air dry clay once cured.

Polymer clay remains workable until you bake it in the oven unlike air dry clay.

Polymer clay holds its shape better while you are working with it.

You can get much finer detail with polymer clay.

Polymer clay is waterproof.

As always I do want to sincerely thank all of you for watching my videos and reading my blog posts. It means so much to me that you are supporting me in this way. If I could ask you all to do just a bit more by subscribing to the channel and liking the videos and leaving comments. Those help more than you can imagine. Also if you could pass the links on to your friends I would appreciate it so much.