Since everyone seems to be enjoying the clay 101 series so far I decided to give you the next one today. So today we are talking about the consistency of the clay you are working with. From conditioning the clay to prepare it to work with to how to fix too soft or too hard clay. Along with some of a little about why you might want clay that is softer or firmer. And then finally I talk a bit about reviving old crumbly clay.
So what is conditioning and why do we need to do this? Just like an athlete our clay needs to stretch and warm up a bit before we put it to work. There are several reasons for this. One being that while the clay is not being worked with it can stiffen up and become more firm than it normally is. You won’t know how soft/firm your clay is until you condition/warm it up. Also clay can have air pockets hidden in it and these need to be worked out before you go to the work of creating your masterpiece. Clay that has sat for a while can also develop an inconsistent texture. It might be softer in one area but firmer in another. To condition just work with the clay in your hands, knead it, roll it into a snake and fold it and repeat that. Just work with it until it becomes flexible. The goal is to be able to make a snake, fold that snake and see no cracks or tears. Some clays will condition much quicker than others for many reasons.
Too soft clay. While a really soft clay is much easier on the hands it is very difficult to get fine details with really soft clay. It just can’t hold the finer details we many times need working in smaller scales.
To remedy this there are several simple things you can do. First off try cooling your hands and work surface. Sometimes giving your hands a quick wash with cold water is all that 9is needed. You can also chill your work surface (if possible) and this can go a long way with just slightly soft clay.
If you are going to be mixing your clay with another clay to achieve a different color picking a firmer clay to mix with will go a long way.
Another of my favorite tricks is to flatten out the clay and place it on a clan sheet of white paper overnight. This will draw out some of the oils in the clay and really makes a big difference.
If your clay gets too soft while working with it stick it in the freezer for 15 or 290 minutes and you will see an improvement also.
What if your clay is really firm? I do prefer to work with a firmer clay because I can get much better details in what I make. That being said a clay that is too firm is painful to work with and even I get discouraged. Another to thing I want to say is that I found in my experience that clays that are firmer seem to be more durable after baking, the finished items seem to not be quite as fragile so something to keep in mind.
If a clay is really firm the first thing I usually do is stick the bag containing the clay into my pocket or into my clothing against my body. The body heat will help to make it a bit more pliable. Also try washing your hands with hot water exotically if the room you are working in is cold.
Depending on what you are making adding some translucent clay will soften firmer clays because the translucent clays are by their very nature very soft. If you are going to be mixing the clay with another clay to adjust the color try to pick a softer clay to mix in.
What if you have old crumbly clay that you want to revive? As clay sits it can get very dried out and crumbly like the one I used to demonstrate this portion of the video. That particular clay was a very firm clay to begin with and it has been in my stash for many years. If I had to guess I would say probably at least 10 years.
The first steps would be to try the suggestions in the working with too firm clay section. I have tried all of those things many times on this particular clay and know it is beyond those working.
So when I want to use this clay I start by chopping it very fine and using my clay roller to roll it. You need to use a lot of pressure on the roller especially at first. Just keep chopping and rolling until it starts to come together.
As a final step you can add something like TLS (Translucent Liquid Sculpey) or one of the clay softeners that some of the clay manufactures market.
As yo saw I was able to pretty quickly make that crumbly mess into a very workable clay.
You can almost always rescue old clay if you know how. As long as it has not been stored at too hot of a temperature that is of course.
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.
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