15 Polymer Clay Tips You Need To Know

Polymer clay is a plastic-based oven bake clay that is becoming increasingly more popular. It can be used for a wide variety of things like jewelry and other art sculptures. All of the earrings you see listed on our website are made with this versatile material. As we practice with polymer clay more and more, we learn new ways of making our final products even better. Whether you’re a polymer clay expert or you’re just getting started, we’re sure you’re going to find the tips in this blog helpful.

Before Baking Polymer Clay

Get a Basic Understanding of Polymer Clay First

Diving right into a new hobby without really researching can be exciting, but its often times intimidating and leaves room for mistakes. You wouldn’t jump into taking a computer apart to fix it without learning how it works first, so take some time to get a basic understanding of how polymer clay works before diving right in.

The Brand Of Clay Matters

As polymer clay becomes more and more popular, new brands continue to arise. With more options, more research needs to be done to ensure you choose the right products for your needs. There are brands that are better for beginners and there are some for more experienced makers.

If we had to recommend a good brand for beginners, we would tell you to try Sculpey III. It’s a softer clay to work with and it comes in a wide range of colors. Start with that kind and get the hang of it before switching to a brand that suits your needs better. Some of the most popular brands are Sculpey, Fimo, Cernit, and Kato and you can likely find these in your local craft supply store.

Polymer Clay Colors Are Mixable

Are you looking for a specific shade of polymer clay but can’t find the one you’re looking for? Don’t fear! You can mix colors together to create the perfect color to match the vision in your head. Polymer clay is a bit like paint putty in a sense that you can mix it to create your own color. When mixing colors, however, please be mindful of the baking instructions. Be sure you’re using two clays with the same baking instructions to prevent any burning/browning.

Use a Glossy Surface

Use a glossy surface like a ceramic tile or a sheet of glass so your clay has something to stick to. If it sticks to your work surface, the easier it’ll be to remove your cutter from your clay if you’re using them. Take your acrylic roller and flatten the clay to the tile so there are no bubbles from behind and you can achieve clean, sharp cuts. You can buy tiles for very cheap at your local hardware store that you can reuse again and again. Just make sure to clean it after each use.

Please note that if you bake your clay on a tile, the back will come out glossy. To prevent that, you can add a sheet of copy paper or parchment paper on top of the tile and you’ll get a matte effect. If you don’t have parchment paper and have to bake directly on the tile, you can use acetone after it’s baked to remove the shine from the back.

A Pasta Machine Is Your Best Friend

By using a pasta machine, you can achieve making perfectly mixed and uniform sheets of clay. Yeah, you read that right. One of those little machines with the crank that you turn to flatten out and cut your pasta dough into delicious noodles. Turns out pasta machines also work great with clay. We use the thickest setting to make the base of each earring and it’s the perfect size. When you run your clay through, always make sure the crease is on the side to allow air bubbles to go up and out to escape instead of trapping them in.

Clay Needs to Be Conditioned

If the edges of your clay are still jagged when you run it through your pasta machine, it’s not conditioned enough. As a general rule of thumb, it’s best to run your clay through your machine at least 20 times. You’ll know it’s conditioned when the edges are clean and no longer jagged like before.

Remove Any Air Bubbles As They Rise

After each pass through your pasta machine, check for any tiny air bubbles. If you see some, take something sharp to pop them and push the air out such as a needle. This step should not be skipped because if you skip this step, the bubbles don’t just go away on their own. They’ll show in your final baked pieces and no one wants that.

Use a Sharp Blade To Remove Clay From Working Surface

When you use a ceramic tile as your working surface for polymer clay sometimes your pieces can get distorted when trying to remove them. We use a sharp tissue blade that is cleaned after each use and a 45 degree angle. We come in from the top right side of the piece at an angle and slide it directly against the tile in one motion. Wiggling can cause damage to your pieces so move in one firm, swift motion for best results. Now your pieces won’t be distorted or damaged when removing them from your work surface.

Stand Up When Applying Pressure

When manually rolling out or cutting your clay, it’s best to stand up so the pressure you apply is even for better results. If you’re an experienced clay user, you know how scary it is to be cutting a shape out of clay and your cutter decides it’s going to try to flip over and ruin your cut out. Avoid the issues all together and just stand up. You can see it much better that way anyway and you’ll get better results.

Use Cornstarch With Intricate Cutters

When using intricate clay cutters, a light dusting of cornstarch on the top is an inexpensive and effective method of ensuring your clay won’t stick to your cutter. Use cornstarch in combination with a glossy surface. I like to use a fan brush for makeup to dust the cornstarch on. Best of all, after you bake your clay, the cornstarch will wipe right off.

If you don’t have cornstarch, you can use a sheet of plastic wrap. Just lay it down carefully on top of the clay but make sure there are no bubbles or creases and cut like you normally would. You will have to press extra hard to make sure the cutter cuts all the way through to create sharp edges. Remember to stand when pressing!

Use An Oven Thermometer

It’s a common misconception that if you baked your clay pieces too hot or for too long that they will become brittle and break. In reality if your clap pieces snap when you bend them, your clay is either too brittle, your temperature isn’t high enough, and/or you’re not baking your pieces long enough. By getting an separate oven thermometer, you can confirm the temperature accurately reflects what the oven reads. Make sure to set a timer on your phone as well, but if you forget and leave them in for a little too long, it’s okay! “Overbaking” your polymer clay pieces doesn’t make them more fragile, but it could even make it stronger. It’s not the time that burns clay, it’s the temperature. If the oven temperature is set correctly, your pieces could bake for hours without burning. Pretty cool, right?!

After Baking Polymer Clay

Some Imperfections Can Be Removed After Baking

As we briefly mentioned earlier in this blog, acetone can remove fingerprints after baking if your clay is too soft. After it’s cooled off completely, take a Q-tip and apply a thin layer of acetone to your clay and it will remove the imperfections. We use this method often when working with white clay. Any dust or debris that might have occurred before baking will be pretty noticeable so we like to remove them after baking to perfect them.

You can also remove imperfections before baking by taking a Q-tip and removing them gently with rubbing alcohol. We find better results when we use 91%. Adding the use of rubbing alcohol to your clay routine is an inexpensive way to really make your clay creations look more beautiful.

Dremel From The Back

If you decide to sand or buff your pieces after they’re baked, always do so from the back side. This ensures there is no accidental damage done to the front of your pieces. We’ve even see some people put a bit of 100% acetone on a rag and “sand” the backs of their pieces with that. It’ll help create a more polished look.

You Can Skip The Sealant

Sealing is not actually necessary because polymer clay is already waterproof and durable as it is. However, you can use clear glosses or varnish like Polycrylic to change the look of your pieces. We like to use Polycrylic to add a shine to some of our clay earrings.

You Can Use Resin Alternatives To Gloss/Seal

Resin is the most popular sealant used on baked polymer clay pieces, but it can get expensive when buying the materials and PPE you need. The goods news is that there are alternatives that work similarly without the hefty price tag and possible dangers. Not only is resin expensive, it also can yellow over time and there are a lot of health risks that come with resin usage. You can achieve a shiny effect by simply sanding and buffing without using any other products or chemicals. That always seems so unreal to us, but we’ve seen it done. We like to use Polycrylic to add a more glossy effect to the surface of our earrings when we see fit. Most of the time we skip this step because we really like the matte effect polymer clay has.

Learning any new hobby or skill can be intimidating, especially with the pressure to be perfect at it even on your first try. Imposter syndrome is real, but you have to start somewhere. If you’re a beginner or you’ve already started and are here looking for tips, we hope these have been helpful! If you have any questions regarding polymer clay or our process, please feel free to reach out and we’d love to try to help!

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