If you bake polymer clay for too long, it will being to darken and turn brownish. In addition, another limiting factor for baking is the color of your craft. There is no risk of water evaporating from the clay or cracking. Most types of polymer clay are not burned or damaged when they are baked for a long time. The heat solidifies the bonds inside the clay molecules. It should be noted here that polymer clay tends to become stronger when it is baked in the oven for a long time.

Sculpey: 15 minutes per 1/4″ (6mm) of thickness.

Premo: 30 minutes per 1/4″ (6mm) of thickness.

Here’s a breakdown of baking times from popular brands Some suggest baking polymer clay for 30 minutes, while others suggest 10 – 15 minutes as optimal. What’s more, baking times for different brands differ. The shape and size of your craft must be taken into account as well. While this sounds reasonable, it isn’t always practical. If the package says 30 minutes then bake it for 30 minutes and no more. If you don’t bake the clay long enough, the clay won’t harden.Ī number of clay art professionals will tell you to follow the instructions on the packaging. Don’t bake it for too long, there is an added risk of discoloration. Many crafters worry about the correct baking duration and rightly so. If you keep these three things in check, you should have no problem with baking polymer clay artwork. These are temperature control, baking duration and position in the oven. There are three main things to keep in mind when baking polymer clay crafts.

Additional Articles You May Find Useful.

(Leave it in the ice bath for at least thirty minutes for best results. Many people find that translucent clay comes out somewhat clearer when dunked in ice water immediately after curing. You may find that covering the clay or 'tenting' it with a piece of aluminum foil helps prevent discoloration. Translucent clay is more prone to scorching than colored clays, so it is especially important to monitor it during curing and not over-bake. When making mica shift using mica clay that is highly saturated with mica particles (such as the Kato brand), some artists find that they get a different chatoyant effect by mixing the mica clay with translucent clay, up to a 1:1 ratio.

(Some colors of clay, right out of the package, are more prone to color shifts, simply because some colors are composed of a higher proportion of translucent clay than are others.) However, the more translucent clay you add to your opaque clay, the more likely you are to have a color shift during firing. Sometimes this is done to soften hard or crumbly clay, as translucent clay tends to be softer than opaque clay.

It is possible to add translucent clay to colored opaque clay to 'stretch' it further (i.e. The effect of different opacities and translucencies in juxtapostion can add immediate interest to a piece of art. Many artists like to have translucent clay on hand when mixing their own colors. This 'plaquing' is thought to be caused by moisture that gets into the clay from handling or atmospheric humidity. In some translucent clays, there is a tendency for small white half-moon shapes to appear after baking. For some imitative techniques, an often irritating phenomenon called 'plaquing' may actually be helpful. Translucent clay is frequently used in millefiori canes, to provide a translucent protective sheet over colored clay, and in many imitative techniques.

Baking translucent polymer clay smell